Chronicles Of The Lost And Weary
by Shinigami-Of-Hell
Summary: Riku, Cloud, and Leon are three boys with different powers that help them rid the world of evil. So what happens when you throw Sora, a seemingly useless boy, into the mix? Chaos! Angst! It's mayhem! [RxS] [LxC] Yaoi.
1. Chapter One

**Hello readers my name is Calismo and I'll be your authoress this evening. For your enjoyment I have provided for you peanut packets and sodas. Let's enjoy the ride, yah? Well then, lets get on with it.**

**This is my first Kingdom Hearts fiction, inspired by me finally beating the Chain of Memories game. I finally finished Riku's little adventure of it, and now I have to go back and beat the first one. Heh. Well what to say about this fiction--the pairings are not to be revealed yet, as I'm not sure what exactly I want to do with this one. It might just end up being SoraXRiku / CloudXLeon, but we'll see... This first chapter is really long; longer than I expected it to be. I think I might add in a short prologue before this, but maybe not.**

**NOTE: This story contains yaoi content; don't read it if you don't like it. I will not accept flames coming from those who don't read the warnings ahead of time. If you flame me you will be stuck with me, and no one wants that. **

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix / Jupiter. I own no part of this game, nor do I own any of the Final Fantasy characters, namely those from VII and VIII. **

**Date Begun: January1, 2006**

**Date Posted: January 17, 2006**

**- This fiction is dedicated to Slashapalooza and The Machination for writing the best Kingdom Hearts fictions I have ever read. -**

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Chapter One**

A silence ran throughout Destiny Isle, encasing the city in its iron grip and crushing it slowly, slowly. It was early in the morning, and no one was out on the streets. No one, that is, save for one person. Cloaked in darkness, the figure gave off the unmistakable scent of blood; blood that was splattered all over the figure. Slowly, slowly the figure made its way down the street and out of sight, determined to make it home before the sun rose as to avoid suspicion. It clambered up a large hill towards an apparently empty house, shoving open the door and collapsing on the grand staircase. Five blocks away, one of the maids of the many hotels of that side of town let out a piercing scream as she came face to face with a corpse; its throat had been slit and trails of dried tears were apparent on its cheeks, as if it had been killed by a very special person. A very special person indeed.

-0-0-

It was a putrid day outside. While there was no rain, there was no sun either, and it was just cold enough to make you need a sweater. But the moment you donned it, you became too warm. There was ultimately no wind until you had to walk in the direction where you'd be fighting against it, at which time it would start to blow furiously. So with all that said it was safe to assume that all the students of Kanagakure High School were tucked warmly inside their beds with a mug of cocoa and a manga, safe from the world's attempt to destroy their morale by burying them in such horrid weather, right...?

Well they would've, had it not been Monday.

In one house a boy of fourteen was rising with the hopes of seeing beams of light washing his walls in rosy color, only to find them looking more placid and grey than ever. Half-expecting to hear his mother marching up the stiars ready to force him up said boy shifted and let his cold feet dangle over the side of the bed, prepared to let the torture commence. But no one came, and the minutes ticked on. _'Why isn't she coming?' _He sighed; it was so deep and so loud, and it punctured the silence of the room so much that he instinctively called out for his mother; there was no response. A bit frightened now, and all drowsiness gone, the boy sprang from his bed and out into the hallway, scurrying down the stairs and on towards the family room. Blue eyes widened; big, round, and full of concern. Cinnamon locks--held in place by what he liked to call "hair glue"--shaded his eyes and gave him a haunted look. He desperately strained to hear the up-beat music that was usually playing; smell the cofee his mother brewed.

"Mom!"

There was still no response, and all was dark.

"Mom! Mom!"

"Oy, stop yelling Sora."

"MOM!"

He clung to her in desperation, trying to stop her from edging away from him. He heard her laugh, and was amazed that he fell for the all-is-silent-so-someone-must-be-dead ploy that she had set upon him. _'It was just to get me out of bed without any effort...' _Thinking back on it, Sora realized that he'd acted rather silly and childish during the situation, and instantly flushed with humiliation. Only his mom could get a rise out of him making a fool of himself. At least she still loved him, even after he'd acted like a dolt. Smirking, she peeled him off and flicked on the lights. With a shout of "surprise!" she turned Sora around and forced him to look at the room. Balloons and streamers decorated the room in mix-matched organization, colorful beyond imagination. Tied to his usual chair at the table were two black balloons, each bearing the words 'Happy Birthday' in white letters.

At the center of the oak table sat his cake--beautifully decorated--with fifteen burning candles situated in odd spots. His mother pushed him into his seat and began singing to him in her sweet soprano voice. He grinned widely as he realized he'd been set up more than he thought. Not only had his mother not had to drag him out of bed, she managed to pull off a surprise party for him. And he'd completely forgotten that today was his birthday! He felt rather special. But as he stared up into his mother's sweet face, a pang of sadness shot within him. There were many more memories like htis. Memories where another voice was singing, duet style, with his mother's soprano voice. He pushed the memory away, resolute to enjoy his fifteenth birthday to its fullest. Starting with praying for better weather...

"Here," his mother fed him a moutful of his cake. "Now go get ready for school."

"Mom! On my birthday?"

"Yup," she winked. "Now go."

Thirty minutes later he was standing in front of the bus stop waiting for the bus. It clunked up over the hill in slow-motion, lumbering down the road at its own place before stopping ten feet away from where he stood. Sora smiled; it always did that. He nodded to the driver and moved to the last free seat available--all the way in the back. The other occupant of the seat had his face bent over something and his hand was moving furiously across the page. Sora coughed, trying to catch the boy's attention. However, the boy must have been rather engrossed in his work because for five minutes Sora did nothing but stand there in the back, staring down at the boy who was depriving him of his seat. The bus driver, looking back, must've decided that Sora had chose to stand because he revved the engine and made a U-turn, ready to chug back up the hill. A bit impatient and insulted at being ignored, Sora gave the loudest cough by far, tapping the boy on the shoulder.

"Huh?"

For a moment, Sora forgot what to say. Deep blue eyes gazed into his own; a piercing blue. Soft blond hair framed his pale face and his mouth was set in a thin line. Sora gawked; it was the face of an angel. An angel who was staring at him as if he'd seen him somewhere before.

"Um, may I sit here?"

"Oh, yeah! Go right ahead."

He scrambled up his stuff and Sora sat down. The blond's hand moved briefly from where it was covering the book and he caught a sight of a picture. It was a beautiful picture from what he could see; handrawn it depicted some sort of scenery. He pointed to it and the boy conceeded, so he snatched the book up. The boy sat blushing, knowing that he had been temporarily forgotten. Sora stared at the picture, awed at the beauty of it. The detail. A cherry-blossom tree hung over a pond and in the middle of the pond danced a Dryad made of the fallen petals. _'This is so beautiful...' _He moved to flick through the other pages, to see the other drawings of the boy, but was interupted by a somewhat frantic voice.

"Can I have my book back?"

Pulled from his daze Sora too blushed, handing the drawing book back quickly. "I'm sorry."

"S'okay," the boy shrugged. "My name's Cloud. You?"

"Sora. Nice to meet you," Sora gestured to the book. "You've got talent."

"Oh no--my work is nothing. Hey Sora, you wanna eat lunch with me today?"

_'Wha...?' _"S...sure."

Cloud beamed, sitting back and letting the rest of the bus ride pass in silence. Sora was glad for it; he was never invited to eat lunch with someone very often. It wasn't that he was anti-social, it was just that he always found the perfect time to say the absolute wrong thing. It never failed and thus he'd given up on friends completely, preffering to be a lone wolf. What would he do this time? Make a stupid joke, insult someone without knowing, sit in something? _'Maybe this isn't a good idea.' _What excuse could he use to worm away from this mess?

Their high school loomed in the distance, contructed fo dull gray bricks, surrouned by parched yellow grass and dying trees--the only blemish on an otherwise flourishing and prosperous city. As the bus pulled to a creaky stop Sora and Cloud made their way off. Just as Sora opened his mouth to gently decline the lunch offer a football came whizzing at his head. Luckily Cloud intercepted it before it came crashing to his skull. In the distance a low shout of "sorry!" was heard, and Cloud replied with some witty comment. Thus two seconds later he found himself in a headlock with Sora watching in amusement. The attacker paused to push back his silver hair and flick his aquamarine eyes up to Sora's blue ones. And once again he found himself blushing as this boy stared up at him.

"Hmph. Stick to fortunes, Riku. You're aim sucks."

"Hey is this the boy?"

"Yup."

"Oh, so I was right."

"You always are."

The warning bell rand and sent Sora into a frenzy. As he ran Cloud called after him "oak behind the gym" and siappeared with Riku behind the old, dilapidated building by the bus stop. _'What, they're not going to homeroom?' _The bell ended sqiftly with its last 'dong,' giving Sora five minutes to get to class before he was marked tardy. He let his mind wander back to the other boy for a second...Riku... That sex-god who was the epitome of all things sexy and perfect--he was supposed to eat lunch with him? Oh, he was screwed.

While Sora was running frantically towards the school--and occasionally pausing as Riku's face came to mind--Cloud and Riku were watching. They smirked at each other; Riku had definately made an impression. As Sora finally disappeared from eyesight the two made their way stealthily through the city and ending up in front of a fancy house. It sat on a hill, which seperated it from all the other fancy houses. The building gave off an air of elegance and danger, as if warning people to stay away. Riku rang the doorbell. The door opened on its own accord, giving the two their means of entrance. In the shadows lurked a figure, dark and terrible. Storm grey eyes drew them in further and the door closed, encasing the three in total darkness. Sighing as he groped his way through the dark, Cloud felt his hand come in contact with the dest table and from there he made his way even further into the dark.

"Leon turn on the lights!" Riku called.

"Hn. Fine."

Light flooded the room and Cloud found that he had been saved, for his hand was a mere inch a way from where it should never be, and Leon most certainly would have whacked him; he withdrew quickly. As the shadows diminished Leon was revealed to them even more. His face was stoic, as per usual, and he was silent. He had the aura of a killer and even his scent always managed to hold a trace of blood, no matter how faint it may be. This morning his eyes were circled with wearniness; it seemed his entire being was drooping over. Thus with Riku's and Cloud's combined efforts--and Leon's protests and glares--the two carried their wearied friend to the couch and lay him down. And then they jumped on him.

"Get off of me!"

"You finished the job, right?" Riku whispered in his ear.

"You didn't hear that maid scream?"

"Nope; I was dead asleep."

"Oh, lucky you."

Cloud nuzzled Leon's neck while Riku lavishly ran his fingers through his hair. The three were close, and if they wanted to they could've called themselves a threesome. But they chose to remain just friends for reasons no one would understand. Gradually Leon's glare lessened to that of nothing, and then a small smile was playing on the edge of his lips. Even though he rarely showed it, he loved the attention he recieved, and loved the attention he gave to the other two when it was their turn to recieve it from him. Riku shifted position, allowing himself to nuzzle the other side of Leon's neck, leaving the boy in a wonderful position. He was happy--he had two completely molestable boys at his side--and he didn't have to go to school.

No annoying teachers, no rabid fangirls, and no homework. What more could a person want? Time dripped on and they began to talk, mostly about nothing; occasionally about something. But soon it turned to the night before...

"So did you meet the boy?"

"The one I saw after we finished the job? Yeah, Cloud found him just like I knew he would."

"And did you see anything...promising?"

Cloud laced his fingers with Leon's, "No."

"But we're eating lunch with him."

"Oak tree?" Leon kissed Cloud's fingers. Cloud nodded, sighing lightly.

The three lapsed into silence, and then on to gentle sleep. Two hours or so ticked on, measured by the old grandfather clock sittin gin the hallway outside the door. Stirring, Riku took in the soft scent of his friend. Leon almost always could take his worries away: there was something about his quiet, reseved demeanor that calmed him and his fears. And Riku did have many fears. His future, mostly. Even though he excelled in everything and could have any job... Well, anxiety and doubt always gnawed at his soul. _'Oh, my head...' _

He ran a hand through his tousled hair, trying to straighten it out. He intended to head upstaris towards the bathroom near Leon's room--it had always been his favorite, since it smelled of Leon, and he could always take a relaxing bath--but he glanced upon the clock, nearly choking to death. _'10:30! Oh shit, we're late!' _There was no point in trying to awaken the other two; they were too deep in sleep and snuggling to ever get up now. Momentarily he paused and looked back at his friends. Cloud's head was resting softly on Leon's chest, and the bigger boy had his arms wrapped around Cloud's waist protectively. There was no way he would be able to break that up. No, if he was to make in time he'd have to go alone. Energized, Riku ran out the door. _'I hope he doesn't think we diched him!" _Riku began his descent down the hill, trying very hard not to trip. The school wasn't very far away; as he was running he could see the drab building and parched grass.

It was going to look rather odd to the boy--what was his name?--that he had no lunch to eat. Very odd indeed... He panted hard, cursing the school system. Lunch always started at 10:40 sharp. Just five minutes away--both the school and the lunch bell. How was he going to pull this lunch date off? Why he was going to turn on the charm of course! There was nothing he couldn't achieve with his charm. _'I just hope I make it there!' _He put on a burst of speed, pumping his legs. _'Come on, lemme make it!' _Two blocks away, Sora was beginning to cry.

-0-0-

"I knew it was too good to be true."

A tear slipped down his cheek, followed by several more. The courtyard was completely deserted, everyone having already gone off to eat. And Cloud and Riku were nowhere to be seen. Sora let out a choked sob. His fifteenth birthday had not gone well once school started. His favorite bully, Tidus, had ambushed him and gave him a swirly in a deserted boy's bathroom as a birthday present, ensuring that he would be tardy. Mrs. Utada--who was supposed to be on vacation until next week--had decided to come back early, and the two were not on great terms with each other. He hadn't done the homework, earning him a detention for tomorrow, and the weather had not brightened since the morning. And now, he'd been ditched for lunch. He bent his head low in shame, unsure why he was crying. It wasn't as if this hadn't happened before, but this one was affecting him much more than the others. _'10:50...ten minutes late. Oh well.'_

"Waiting for me?"

Sora's head shot back up; the voice was so close. And that was because Riku had bent his head in close towards Sora's in silence. A pale hand moved towards his face, wiping away a tear. Riku. The boy gave a sad smile, hands now behind his head. He'd been held up by stuffy adult who had seen him j-walk across the street and was determined to lecture him on the dangers of it. If it hadn't been for his graceful tactics of escaping, he would have been held up for the rest of the day.

"Sorry I'm late. And that Cloud's not here. It's just going to be me and you today, okay?"

"Uh...yeah. M...my name's Sora, by the way."

_'We're opposites.' _"Great! Come on!"

Riku took his hand and dragged him away from where he stood. They were headed towards the back of the school, where a large trellis made of vines led the way up towards the school roof; Riku took hold of the vines and shimmied up, one step at a time. Sora followed, less certain of his movements and ultimately slower than the boy in front of him. As Riku reached the top and hauled himself over, Sora was still at the halfway mark. Determined to make a good impression in place of his earlier tears he quickened his pace, on the roof before Riku could even turn around to look down at him. It was then that Sora noticed that the boy had no lunch. In fact, he had nothing with him save the clothes on his back.

"R...Riku, you're lunch?"

"S'okay, I'm not hungry," Riku gave a devilish grin, sliding over to Sora and wrapping his arms around his neck. "Unless you want to share with me?"

Sora's blush was immediate and rather deep; Riku inwardly smirked. The brunnete opened his lunch, tossing his companion two of his homemade onigiri. One of his two juices followed, and after that a few rice crackers. It was apparent that Sora had a healthy appetite. Turning a bit from Riku, Sora took the last part of his lunch and split it in two: a piece of his birthday cake. Happy for the chance to share his cake with someone, Sora handed the piece to the other boy with a wide smile.

"Your birthday?"

"Yup! Fifteen years old!" Sora clapped his hands over his mouth as he finished, knowing what was coming next.

"Fifteen, huh?" Riku whispered slyly, before pouncing on the boy and punching him--lightly--fourteen times.

"H...hey, that was only fourteen. If you're going to punch me, I'd prefer you not take pity on me and--"

He was silenced as Riku placed a kiss on his cheek, whispering, "Fifteen. There you go." He pulled away. "Now lets eat!"

"A...ah."

As Riku bit into his first onigiri, marveling over how quickly he'd been able to fluster the boy. And at how fast he'd turned the lunch date from serious to completely playful. He had work to do; he couldn't waste it making Sora uncomfortable, no matter how entertaining it was. So as the two ate in silence he tried to come up with a gentle way to turn the conversation towards where it needed to go. He frowned a bit; it was his job to find people and Leon's job to find out about them. _'Maybe I should have woken them up after all...'_

"So where is Cloud?"

"With a friend. You noticed that we weren't going to homeroom, right?" Riku flicked his hair; Sora nodded. "We went to see a friend who isn't feeling to well. Late night job."

"Oh."

"Why?" Riku tipped his head to look at Sora closer. "Prefer his company over mine?"

Okay, maybe it wouldn't hurt to fluster the boy just one more time.

While Sora stuttered to reply, he vaguely heard the trellis behind them shake and shudder, as if someone were coming up. And his guess was true--Cloud tumbled over the side and landed on the ground with a 'thud.' And two seconds later, another boy came over the side. Now, while Sora had never seen Riku or Cloud, he knew this boy. He was first in his class and was president of nearly ever club he partook in: Leon. The boy gave him a slight nod, and the dark circles under his eyes indicated to Sora that he'd been the one Cloud and Riku went off to see. Bending down, Leon gathered up Cloud's limp form--the boy was not made for running distance--and sat down next to Riku.

"Sorry we're late."

"You owe me a bath when school is over."

"Hn."

Cloud opened one of his pretty blue eyes to gaze at Sora, smiling slightly, "Hey."

With Riku alone, Sora had been a bit uncomfortable. But now, with all three of the boys sitting before him--and him still having no idea why they wanted to have lunch with him--his uncomfort increased by tenfold. And he was getting cold. Riku took some time splitting his lunch with Cloud while Leon scrutinized Sora accutely. Before long, Leon was asking him questions. Random questions such as what his favorite color was, what his favorite subject was, and things of absolutely no importance. But he answered them with the utmost seriousness because if Leon was taking the time to ask them, they had to be important. The student-council president didn't waste his time on anything, let alone stupid questions such as these. They must have some importance. Cloud and Riku watched on as he was questioned, nodding their encouragement. Occasionally Riku would lean over and whisper in Cloud's ear, and the boy would glance disapprovingly at Riku, who only smirked in reply.

Needless to say, Sora was rather relieved when the bell rang for classes. He slid down the trellis quickly, as not to be caught on the roof, and--waving goodbye to those on the roof--headed off to his next class. He wondered vaguely what they were going to do; were they going to just sit up on the roof for the rest of the day? _'As long as they don't ever ask me to lunch again, I'm fine.'_

-0-0-

As Sora thought, the three did stay up on the roof for quite a while. Just long enough for everyone to come back to school, and everyone to get settled into their classes. And that's when they made their escape back up to Leon's house. They walked leisurely, as they knew that by now even the adults would be back working and they would have no one to fear. Cloud and Riku spoke amongst themselves for Leon was still analyzing the results of Sora's questioning. Riku finished telling Cloud of how he had so tortured the boy, even adding that it might have interferred with how he'd answered Leon's questions. Cloud gave a short laugh, telling him that he should never mention that to Leon if he valued his life. The favored house came into view and the three scrambled up the hill in no time, Riku eager to take a nice, long bubble bath. The door was open--no one would dare try to rob Leon's house--and Riku bolted to the bathroom before Cloud could try to take it from him, thus leaving the other two in the living room.

"Where is everybody?" Cloud popped open a can of Coke, sipping it.

"Mother and Father are skiing in Aspen and Saku is at boarding school."

"You don't seem very happy about it, though..."

"Trust me, I am happy," Leon scowled as he stared at the large collection of family pictures on the wall. "Any time I don't have to hear them stuffing family history down my throat, I'm happy."

"Demo..." Cloud smiled. "You're lucky to have such parents. They accept your talents, and actually try to help you strengthen them!"

Leon was silent, so Cloud continued on, "They appreciate mine and Riku's talents as well, and they don't...they don't hate us for it. They appreciate that we're sacrificing a normal life to rid the world of...evil."

Leon looked away, "Killing isn't a talent..."

_'He's stil...' _Cloud took Leon's hand, "We wouldn't be the Three without you. You're talents are amazing. You have the ability to...to get close to anyone and then..."

"Kill them," Leon finished quietly. "Yes, it seems nice doesn't it? Riku sees them in his visions, you draw them, and then I go kill them. My family knows what I do and they try to send me off to classes to learn to kill better. Is that supposed to make me feel good?"

"Leon..."

"You try killing someone you've come to know, Cloud. And then we'll see if you still think it's a gift." he stalked off in anger.

Tears welled up in Cloud's eyes; he'd managed to anger Leon again. No matter how close they might've been, he was always the first to anger Leon into running off, and he could never seem to fix his mistake. Riku always had to help him. The minutes ticked on and Leon didn't return, so Cloud was left to wait in silence for Riku to finish his bath. The many pictures on the walls were beginning to scare him; generations and generations of scowling faces--didn't anyone in Leon's family smile? Riku's footsteps were dulled by the carpet but were still audible enough for Cloud. He turned to stare at his friend.

"Again?" Riku sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's not your fault. Leon still hasn't come to understand his position. You just have to give him some time."

"I still didn't have to go and--"

"And tell him exactly what needed to be said," Riku tapped his forehead with Cloud's. "Don't feel guilty. It's the way things were meant to be."

"That sounds weird, coming from you," Cloud sighed and handed off his Coke.

"Well it's true," Riku shrugged. "We're the chosen three of this day and age. We have the talents to 'rid the world of evil' and we have to follow the path we've been set on...right? I can see parts of the future and as I describe them you draw a picture of the person we're supposed to kill, and then Leon..."

"Leon goes out and kills him." Cloud responded.

"He got shouldered with the most responsibility, to be sure--but with everything else he does how could he not recieve this talent? He's the Student Council president, leader of eight clubs, and always the top of the class."

"I know, but still--he shouldn't have to deal with this," the blond shrugged. "He does all of that, sometimes spending days on end away, maintains his grades, and still looks after us."

"We have to be saviors of the world until we die, so let's not make this harder than it has to be," Riku stated, ruffling Cloud's hair.

Cloud's blue eyes flicked up, reproving, "You have no right to talk, with the way you were with Sora today."

"Heh," Riku shrugged lightly, "I couldn't help it. He was too cute to resist."

"You have to remember that he's just another target, nothing more."

"Mm, maybe that's why Leon is so bent out of shape. Killing a boy of his age is a bit disturbing," Riku licked his lips. "It should be a law to kill boys with asses as cute as that."

"He's just another target," Cloud repeated firmly, pulling out his notebook and turning to a page. "And we can't get close to him."

Tossing the book down onto the coffee table before them, he stalked out after Leon, wondering where the boy had gotten to. Riku sighed, setting the Coke can down and stretching his legs. Unfortunately he kicked the leg of the table and the soda can tipped over because of the movement, dousing the drawing book in sticky substance. _'Ah, shit.' _Picking up the can, Riku looked warily down at the book, watching the liquid spread. A soda covered picture of Sora stared back up at him.

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Well that was a bit confusing, wasn't it? The part where Ri-ku is trying to explain what their current situation is... Oh well, it will all become clear within the next few chapters. That was just to give you a brief taste of what extra responsibility they have. Killing evil people...where did I come up with that? oO Anyways, the next chapter might not be up for a while--just to warn you--because I first have to write it and then revise it. I highly suggest that if you plan on continuing reading this story, you should put it on Story Alert because I tend to get grounded a lot, or my computer breaks down, or something of the sort. So you never know what's going to happen with me, or when I'll update next. Just a warning.**

**Review please! **

**- Please note that over time this chapter will be revised. -**


	2. Chapter Two

**Konnichi-wa, minna-sama! I thank you for your reviews on the first chapter; they have energized me to continue writing on this story. Of course this means that I'm neglecting the, ergh, duties of my other stories but I really need a break. I really have to finish the other stories before I start new ones but it's all part of the challenge. This chapter is going to deal with my two favorite boys, yah? I really did a lot of editing on this one. I took about half the chapter out! XD **

**NOTE: This story contains lovely yaoi; I will not be blamed for not giving warnings. If you don't like / support / love yaoi--don't read this! If you flame me you will be stuck with me forever. Who knows, we might even become best of friends. But I doubt it. Heh.**

**Disclaimer: I own no part of Kingdom Hearts so don't sue me! I also own no characters from Final Fantasy VII and VIII. If you sue, the most you'll get is five cents and some pocket lint. **

**-This fiction is dedicated to Slashapalooza and The Machination for writing the best fictions I've ever read. -**

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Chapter Two**

"Mama! I'm home!"

"About time—hurry up and take one of your sisters for me, will ya?"

Shouldering off his school bag and shrugging off his coat, Riku was thoroughly unprepared when three of his six sisters jumped him from behind and tackled him to the ground, cheating by tickling him in all his most vulnerable places. Not wanting to be at Leon's house when Cloud found his completely soaked through sketch book, Riku had high-tailed it from the house by means of the back door; no one knew he had left. His mother was in a spirited mood today and that was something that rarely happened in the Hikari household. Perhaps his father had gotten a raise, or his mother had won a cruise somewhere, or—oh, the possibilities were endless. Perhaps one of the girls had gotten some wonderful part in some fabulous play they wouldn't even remember as the years wore on. No matter; if his mom was in a good mood then the chances that his father was as well was highly probable. He would play it smart and use this time to invite them to the Culture Fest his school was hosting! His sisters clambered all over him as he stood: two he carried like luggage at his sides and the other was getting a free piggy-back ride. In this painful manner he made his way to the kitchen where the aromas of a fresh snack enticed his sisters to take pity on their only brother and dive for the food.

"Mama, next week we're holding the annual Culture Fest at our school and—"

"Chiyo don't play with your food; eat it!" his mother admonished. "I'm sorry, Riku, what we're you saying about the Culture Fest?"

"It's next week and I was wondering if you and father would come."

"Mizuki don't you dare dip your sisters hair in the peanut butter! Of course Riku, provided that we're not doing anything. But that sounds fine. What is your class doing this year?"

"Portraits. We've got all the best artists in our class so for a small fee you can have your picture drawn."

"That's stupid!" chorused Ami and Yumi—the eldest of the six sisters—through bites of celery. "Why not just use a camera?"

"Well where's the talent in that?"

The front door slammed and instantly Riku's sisters abandoned their snacks so they could go greet their father. Riku hung back with obvious reluctance, hearing the shouts and squeals of the girls as their father picked them up and spun them around until they were dizzy. _'He used to do that with me.' _A sad, longing smile found its way onto his face at the memories they used to share. Memories that had been shattered with each new arrival of a baby girl. No, it wasn't that he hated his sisters. It was simply that with every one of them that was brought into the house, Riku slipped more and more into the shadows. Soon he was too big to be picked up and spun, and a lot more responsibility was pressed down onto his shoulders. As his father rounded the corner he set his mouth into a straight line, unwavering. His father was intimidating: at least six foot, the man looked more suited to be a model than a big-shot business owner but he had given up the former some years back, when his family grew. Long, swishy, silver hair fell down past his waist, and his eyes were cruel and unrelenting. Over the years Riku only called him father in the presence of his family. Around others Riku referred to him only as 'Sephiroth.'

"Hello, son."

"Father."

The greeting was short, clipped, and to the point. Of all seven of the children born to Sephiroth, Riku was the only one to inherit the dazzling silver hair his father had. Each of his sisters was blessed with a full head of hair blacker than a raven's wing; they took after their mother. Riku always began to fidget when he thought of this. Oh, how he sometimes loathed his hair; how it reminded him of his relationship with his father. Picking up one of the discarded celery sticks his daughters had left behind, Sephiroth sat himself down at the rather large kitchen table, munching quietly on his snack. _'Choke on it,' _Riku thought with passion. _'Choke on it and save me the energy of killing you.' _But Sephiroth munched the vegetable quite regally, even managing to dull its loud, resonating crunch into something much gentler. His sisters looked on in awe; they loved their father, and Riku pitied them. They would understand when they couldn't date the boys they wanted, or have the friends they wanted, or go to parties like the other girls. They would understand when he shoved law books on them, stuffing down their throats the rules and regulations of the Hikari household. Riku smirked. In a way, his parents were like Leon's. However, his parents would most likely massacre him if they knew of his...abilities, whereas Leon's family completely accepted them and tried to help him with the burden, however wrong they were going about it.

Turning to his wife, Sephiroth began speaking, "Next week I've a business meeting I need to take care of. I'll be gone all week."

Riku turned, anger fueling within him. _'No...' _His mother simply nodded; she could never say no to anyone, least of all her own husband. He sighed, knowing that the chances of anyone coming to his Culture Fest were zip. In the next three days someone would find his mother and give her an urgent request to do something, and she would go gallivanting off, to nice to refuse. Oh well, there was still Cloud's family. Riku had always liked Cloud's family—they had always been there for him during the roughest times of his life. Plus they were the friendliest bunch a person could ever hope to meet. A family of boys, it was the complete opposite of Riku's own family of six girls and a boy. Cloud's was six boys and a girl.

"But dear, Riku was just telling me about his school's Culture Fest."

Eyes widening, the entire house went silent. _'Is mother actually...?' _But Sephiroth shook his head slowly. "I just can't do it this week. I apologize, Riku."

_'Well, she tried.' _"It's fine."

Nothing made Riku angrier than the soft smirk that appeared on Sephiroth's face at that moment. No one else was on the receiving end of that smirk except himself, and he would even go so far as to guess that his father had tailored that smirk especially for him. But he would not allow his father to see that it bothered him. He would remain as stoic as Leon. Argh, but it was so hard! He fought the rising anger back, clenching and unclenching his fists on occasion. His mother and sisters had long since exited the room, leaving the tension to further build between father and son. Giving a soft, cruel laugh Sephiroth straightened up and exited the room, leaving Riku seething. There was nothing else to do but go upstairs and pretend to do his homework. Luckily for him he'd been able to avert attention from himself by giving the school a call—impersonating his father of course—and told them that he, Leon, and Cloud had caught a cold. The office administrators knew too much about Sephiroth Hikari to ask any questions. A brief smile flitted across Riku's face. He remembered the time in second grade when one of his classmates had pushed him and scraped his knee—Sephiroth had threatened to press charges. But...that was a long time ago. Sephiroth no longer did that for him. Only for his sisters.

"I'm going to go study!"

"Dinner in twenty!"

Twenty minutes. Riku mulled over the sultry aromas that were wafting from the kitchen and following him up the staircase. However sultry they were, he was not particularly happy to be having chicken. The thought—for some odd reason—made his stomach turn. Entering his bedroom, Riku locked the door quietly behind him before retreating to his favorite spot in the entire house, the small closet where the door was hidden behind a rather large poster of his. Lifting it up he unlocked the door and let himself in. The smell of roses washed over him in delicious waves. The closet was small and cramped, but that was only to be expected—after all, eight years of growing since he discovered the place would naturally make it harder for him to fit into the closet. What would he do when he couldn't even get into the small door? No, he wouldn't think about that now. He'd think about it tomorrow. (1) The walls were cold against Riku's bare arms but he ignored the feeling, trying to concentrate. A tremor shook his body and his eyes rolled back until nothing but the whites showed. His breath was coming out in ragged gasps, and his hands clawed at the smooth walls for something to take hold of. The vision was coming fast and hard but...it wasn't a new vision. It was...the first vision he'd ever received.

His breath caught as he saw himself, eight years ago, sitting in this very closet with blood streaming down his face from where his father had hit him. He saw himself jerk and convulse and fight the pain of receiving a vision. His small body shook, but he bit back the urge to scream. It carried on for a few moments more and then it was over. Present day Riku jerked himself out of his vision, chest heaving for breath. What had his first vision been? Oh yes, the one where he would meet Cloud... Well, there would be no need to contact Cloud to draw a picture of this vision. It had apparently already happened, so... He wondered vaguely what Cloud was doing at the moment. Probably working on some new masterpiece of his. Both he and Leon had told Cloud time and time again that he should try selling some of his pieces, to raise a little extra money for himself, but he always replied with a flat-out no. _'Stubborn boy...' _

The doorknob rattled violently, alerting to Riku that someone was trying to get in. And when they did not stop trying to pull the knob from its socket Riku knew it was Sephiroth. Anyone else would have waited for him to open it himself. Scrambling, Riku threw himself out of his closet and covered it up with its poster. He smoothed his mussed hair and straightened his shirt, dumping the contents of his book bag onto his bed so it would look like he had at least done something in the five minutes he'd had alone. Growling and wishing his father would stop making so much noise he unlocked the door and stood back as Sephiroth came barging in, looking ready to kill. He stared at Riku, then back at the doorknob, then back at Riku.

"Why was the door locked?" he asked quietly.

"Because I'm fifteen and I need my privacy," Riku replied hotly, holding his ground.

"Heh," Sephiroth smirked. "Riku, as long as you're in this house you have no privacy. If you want privacy, then move out."

"Maybe I will," Riku challenged.

The smirk left Sephiroth's face, replaced with a frown. He did not like when his own son questioned his authority; it was not the way things were done. It was true that times had changed since he was a boy, but his own children would play the games by his rules as long as they lived in his house. Perhaps it was the influence of his friends that had changed him so much. Well it couldn't have been the Leonharts--they were just as strict as he. It would have to have been the strife family, with their free-thinking ways. He would have to remedy Riku's relationship with them if his audacity to speak so rudely to his own father was going to continue. For now though, he would let the matter drop. Sliding out of the room, he announced to Riku that he expected him to wash his hands and be down at the table in one minute.

"But dinner isn't for another fifteen minutes!" Riku argued. "I'll just be sitting at the table doing nothing!"

Sephiroth paused on his way down the stairs, "I know."

-0-0-

Seven blocks away, Leon was having his own problems. Cloud was still haunting his house, trying to apologize to Leon for his earlier behavior. Leon, however, wasn't going to have any of it, because Cloud had done nothing wrong. But the blond was insistent, sitting outside his bedroom door trying to pick the lock Leon had set up. It would take him ages to crack for the boy was an artist, not a thief. In the meantime Leon pulled out his Game Cube and sat about trying to find his way out of the Earth Goddess' Temple in his favorite Zelda game, the Wind Waker. So absorbed was he in his game, he was most surprised when Cloud clicked open the lock, threw open his door, and pounced on him, catching his lips in a heated kiss. His storm grey eyes grew wide as Cloud pulled him as close as he dared; kissed him as much as he dared. And just as Leon was beginning to get into it, Cloud pulled away and ran out of the room, heading for the front door. _'You're not running out on me now.' _

With amazing speed Leon ran from his room, jumped over the stairwell, and cut off Cloud's means of escape all in five seconds. Cloud winced, knowing he was in for some punishment. What would Leon do to him, now that he had passed the borders his friendship had spelled out? He cast his eyes downward so he wouldn't have to see the look on Leon's face. But no matter—he could still feel the boy's eyes burning into his body, and he felt oddly unshielded. The silence was giving away his anxiety, his apprehension. His breaths were becoming more random and ragged, and tears were starting to well up in his eyes. _'No! I can't cry. Not here…' _Swallowing and trying to calm himself, Cloud did not notice that Leon was moving towards him. Suddenly a warm body pressed up against his, and Leon ran his hand through Cloud's silky hair a few times.

"Leon…"

"I'm sorry I'm such an ass," Leon said brusquely. "But don't expect it to change!"

Before Cloud could reply, Leon placed a finger under Cloud's chin to force him to look at him. Cloud remained silent, not sure of what was happening. He was confused, he was sad, and he really wanted to get home before he did anything wrong. Leon scrutinized him carefully and then bent down and kissed him, ever so gently. A flush spread over Cloud's face as he realized what was going on. There was no one else there to take this from him; Riku was at home and Leon didn't have many other close friends. _'This one is just…mine.' _

Leon pulled away softly, but Cloud pulled him back down again, deepening the kiss and delving into Leon's mouth as the boy allowed him entrance. They slumped against the wall, holding each other as their kiss became all the more passionate.

-0-0-

"Rah! Dog pile on Cloud!"

"Get off me, Haru!"

"You look happy, little brother—did you grab some ass?

"Off!"

Cloud shoved his big brother off of him and moved to the kitchen. His mother was sitting on the counter munching on an apple. Dressed in her rattiest clothes, she had her eyes closed and was doing yoga stretches. Cloud tried to slip past her to his room, but her keen mother senses—not to mention the fact that his shoes made all sorts of noises on the floor—alerted her of his presence. Cracking open a single blue eye she gave a wide, knowing smile. Cloud walked faster.

"You can't hide it from me!" she shrilled, finishing her apple and tossing the core in the garbage. "You finally kissed him, yah?"

"…No…"

"You lie!" his mother pounced, pinning her son in her death grip. "So, so—how was it?"

"Leave me alone!" Cloud wailed.

"C'mon, you know you wanna tell me!"

He broke free and scurried down the last few feet towards the basement door, wrenching it open and hurtling himself down to the darkness below. Silence. Bliss. Free from the torments of older brothers and prying mothers, Cloud could relax in peace. Instinctively reaching out to feel the wall, his hand skimmed across the light switch and he flicked it up. His eyes quickly narrowed at the strong light, his pupils becoming small. This room had once been his studio but after three weeks of his brothers running down there to escape his mother's wrath, Cloud had realized he was going to lose too many pieces of art if he allowed them to be so dangerously unprotected. Suddenly inspired, Cloud pulled out his old painting frock and paints, settling down before a new easel. He barely let the first stroke be completed before he could already see the blossoming picture that he would paint. Deep, storm grey eyes stared at him from the canvas, and a small smile betrayed emotion on the otherwise stoic face. He paused, holding the paintbrush away from the canvas. Things were going to be different from now on.

**

* * *

Gah, that didn't turn out the way I wanted, so expect a re-write on that one. Whew. 0o If you think it's going to be all happy-go-lucky from here on out you have to go rethink that little plan of yours because I don't plan on making anything in this story happy for quite a while. No pain, no gain--as the saying goes. And the sadness will begin with everyone's favorite Gunblade expert! Yay angst! Though I feel kind of guilty... My master's little trend of torturing her characters is rubbing off on me; I'll bet it's being transferred through her glomps. She has killer glomps, I tell you. Until next chapter, everyone!**

**Review please!**

**(1) My Gone With The Wind phase brought that little line into the story; Scarlet O'Hara says it all the time. **


	3. Chapter Three

**We've made it to the third chapter without me having a mental breakdown! I say we break out the champagne! –laugh- Okay, seriously. I'm so happy you guys are enjoying the story but I must warn you that this chapter is short. But hopefully for its shortness is made up with all the things that happen. Well actually…this chapter is basically one scene that will decide much of the oncoming angst of the story. So I command you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter! (And your champagne! X3)**

**NOTE: This story will contain yaoi in future chapters. For the beginning few, it will be only shounen-ai. Don't like it, don't read it. I will not be flamed because you can't take the time to read the summary!**

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all its characters RxS belong to SquareEnix / Final Fantasy characters LxC from FF VII and FF VII are not mine also. The only ones that are mine are the OC's which may come in later.**

**

* * *

Chapter Three**

Sora—while Cloud, Leon and Riku were dealing with their problems—was in his room flipping through the pages of an old year-book. As his eyes scanned across the pages and connected each face with a name, he felt a bit sad. Elementary and middle school brought back a lot of memories; memories of the parties he hadn't been invited to, memories of him being bullied… It was an endless waste land of bad luck. The fact that Sora was fatherless didn't help any. No one was there to protect him when he was younger. Of course there was his mother, but mom's weren't supposed to defend their sons. No! Only a father could do that. And without the latter to help him, Sora had to learn to defend himself.

The smell of a cinnamon roll tore his eyes away from the book. A shuffling of feet later, his mother was pushing the door open and plopping a tray full of the rolls—and a glass of milk—on his nightstand. Sora grinned, scrutinizing his mother. Suki (1) had a weathered look to her, as if she'd seen too much in life that she'd have rather forgotten. Nevertheless she was beautiful and the stares of many of the townsmen told her so. Sora was very protective of his mother; any man he thought unworthy never made it past the gate of his home. Various, er, plots helped him achieve this goal.

"Hi, honey," she greeted. "Bad day?"

"…Well, it wasn't too bad," Sora admitted. "I, uh, made some new friends."

"That's good."

"Mom, how did dad die?"

The room was silent. It was as if someone had succeeded in sucking all the sound out with a bendy-straw. Suki's mouth twitched and tears began to well in her eyes. But Sora didn't care. He needed to know—what was his father like? Why had he been taken away from Sora so early? So long ago that Sora couldn't even recall his face? Pushing a strand of hair away from her face, Suki drew Sora close to her and began stroking his hair.

"He died when you were three. One night he…didn't come back. He'd been working late that night and he never came home. Police found him the next day, repeatedly stabbed and flung in a ditch."

"…Gomen," Sora shut his eyes tight.

"Hm. What are you apologizing for?"

"Making you talk about it."

"Ah, forget it," Suki shoved her son away, sending him falling to the floor. He landed with a 'thump.' "Whoops, sorry."

"Meh."

"Dinner will be late today so you'll have to make do with the cinnamon roll for a while."

She exited the room, closing the heavy wooden door softly behind her. Devouring the roll in one bite Sora went back to the yearbook, grimacing at the sticky, cinnamon fingerprints he left on the

glossy page. He continued scanning the pages until he came to the 'H' section, eyes immediately landing on Riku Hikari. He gulped. How could he have never noticed him? How in all the years of him being in Destiny Isle had he never noticed the perfect face in front of him? Never heard the silky, melodical voice? His heart beat faster as he traced his finger over the boy's lips, wondering…

_Briiiing! _Jolted out of his thoughts, Sora fumbled for the phone on his nightstand. He rather liked his phone, it being one of the Mickey Mouse versions. Nothing beats Mickey Mouse.

"Hello?"

"Sora? It's Leon."

Panic jolted through Sora. Why would Leon of all people be calling him? How the hell did he even get his number! So shocked at the thought of being called, Sora forgot for the moment the existence of the operator. (2) He sat there for a moment, trying to get his breathing under control, before having enough courage to answer.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Would it be okay if I come by your house to pick up today's homework?"

"Don't Riku and Cloud have it?"

"They didn't go to school today, remember?"

His gut clenched; he'd forgotten that. "Oh yeah. That was dumb."

"So…you don't mind?"

"N-no. Come on over."

"Good, because I'm right outside the door."

_Ding-dong! _Sora let out an 'eep' of fear and frustration. His room was fine but he—he was a mess! How fast could he clean himself up before Leon found his way to his room? Pretty quick, as it turned out. In the thirty seconds that it had taken Seiya to lead him up Sora had straightened his room, changed his clothes, brushed his teeth, and tried to comb through his hair. As Leon opened the door, Sora was right there to greet him, smiling his happy smile.

"You're a weird one, aren't you?" Leon smirked, eyes running up and down Sora's body.

Sora gave a nervous laugh. Leon sat himself down on Sora's bed in one fluid motion and Sora immediately pulled out his schoolbooks to show the homework they had been assigned that day. It was a massive amount, Leon realized with a groan, and it would take all night for him to finish. Sora was flustering himself trying to decipher his notes; for all the boy's cuteness, his handwriting was atrocious.

"Sora, it's okay. I think I've got it."

Sora gave him a disbelieving look.

"Really, I've got it all," Leon leaned over and kissed Sora's cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Uh…"

Chuckling, Leon nuzzled the boy's shoulder, nipping lightly at the soft flesh there, "You're adorable."

"Leon, I—"

But Leon pressed a finger to his mouth, silencing him. A pained look flickered across his face. _'Kissing Sora's cheek felt more right than the entire make-out session I had with Cloud…' _Sora, concerned, leaned closer towards Leon but his face had lost all trace of emotion as he gave a soft smile before vanishing; out the door and down the steps before the brunette could even understand what had happened.

"EVERYTHING IS SO WEIRD!" he shouted, tugging at his spikes in frustration.

"Hey."

"AH!"

Leon was back, scooping up his books, an evil smirk on his face, "Couldn't resist."

And then he was gone again, leaving Sora no chance to say good-bye, or to yell or scream or any of the other things that he'd wanted to do. Nothing made sense to him anymore; his world had apparently been flipped upside down. From being invited to lunch, then being hit on by a gorgeous sex-god…to finally working up the gumption to ask his mother about his father…and then having the usually stoic Leon kiss him!

Unknowingly he lifted his eyes up to the ceiling, as if there would be some answer up there. Maybe the evil Mistress Fate would be hanging above him, ready to deliver the next shocking blow to his life. Raking a hand through his hair, Sora gave a dry laugh. '_It can't be much worse than what's already happened.'_

He would regret those words.

**

* * *

-dies- I know, I know—it's not even half the size of the first chapter. But I need this chapter to be uber-short so the next one can be uber-long. That and the fact that I just felt like updating something. So here is your chapter, readers. Thanks for the reviews; let's keep them going strong!**

**Note: I will be updating my Naruto fic soon, if anyone here is following that. **

**Sora's mother's name is Suki. Just a warning.**

**(2) Haha, I forget about the operator too…**


	4. Chapter Four

**Hello everyone! I'm completely pumped because I saw Advent Children yesterday. I finally got around to buying it, and it finally came in! Bad thing about being in Japan though—it took a near month! But anyways, enough with my pointless ramble, let's get on with the story?**

**Note: If anyone would like to beta these chapters, please drop me a line!**

**NOTE: This story contains yaoi content; don't read it if you don't like it. I will not accept flames coming from those who don't read the warnings ahead of time. If you flame me you will be stuck with me, and no one wants that. **

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix / Jupiter. I own no part of this game, nor do I own any of the Final Fantasy characters, namely those from VII and VIII. **

**

* * *

Chapter Four**

It was P.E. class. So far the day had been good; Sora had been able to avoid Riku and Leon all day, and the boys had not sought him out—though he did ride the bus with Cloud—so he had an okay day. Alas though, all four boys have P.E. together, so Sora's peace shattered abruptly.

"Flag football! Divide into teams, choose your colors, and start playing. And Hikari," Umada-sensei turned to Riku, "no repeats of last game."

"Got it," Riku's lips curled into a devilish smirk and Umada knew there would be trouble.

It was a nice day out and soft tendrils of wind were constantly caressing the student's faces; licking at their hair. Cloud yawned and stretched in a cat like way, revealing a bit of his toned stomach to the gawking girls, and hearing squeaks of absolute delight. Giving person that he was, he bent back some more until his shirt rode up to just beneath his nipples. The squeaks turned to all out screams. He smirked—they knew nothing about him.

Leon appeared behind him and tapped his forehead; just a flick but enough to send him falling backwards to the ground. He didn't mind though, not if Leon did it. He gave a little sigh and stretched just a **tiny **bit more—just for Leon. Riku gave him a knowing look and poked him in the stomach, earning an 'eep' from the blond.

"Just be careful," he whispered before waving goodbye, walking away with Leon.

When the teams were divided Leon and Riku were on one team, and Cloud and Sora ended up on the other. The two spiky-haired boys gave each other soft smiles before hooking on their belts and preparing to run. Umada-sensei blew a short, shrill blast on her beloved whistle and the game began with the swiftest bravely crossing over to enemy lines and the timid shirking back. Cloud immediately went searching for Riku and Leon, running into Riku first. His hand shot out for one of the fluttering ribbons but he missed by mere centimeters, losing his balance and falling towards the soft ground.

"Wah!"

The loud 'pop!' he heard was enough to know that Riku had pulled one of his flags. Punching the ground he jumped up, ready for revenge. It was then that he saw it. The fast blur that was Leon, rushing through the crowds and pulling random flags at will. But he flashed right past him, moving instead towards…Sora?

He watched as Leon sped towards the unsuspecting brunette, hand extending and…

Sora's POV

It was too late when I saw him. All I could do was brace myself and hope he had enough mercy to pull only one flag. He was so close, so close I could feel his body heat. I closed my eyes and expected to hear the unavoidable 'pop!' but it never came. Instead his hand came into contact with something that was **nothing** close to my flag. A furious blush painted my face as I pushed away, falling onto my butt. My eyes flicked past Leon to Cloud, who was giving me a very angry glare.

"Leon! What the hell are you doing?" I spat out, readjusting my flags so that they were on either side of my waist.

"Nothing. It's just a game, Sora," was his smooth reply. He flicked his hair out of his eyes and ran off, no doubt to torment other poor souls.

And as I stood there, trapped in my own thoughts of what I could have possibly done wrong—in this life or the last—to deserve such punishment, Wakka and Tidus came running up on either side of me and pulled my flags off. I'm was pissed, but in a way I was thankful to the two, happy that no more repeats like that with Leon could occur.

The game ended with me just sitting there, not even bothering to help out my team. When Cloud was finally freed of his last flag, he purposely stalked as far away as possible from me before plopping down. If Umada-sensei saw this, she made no comment.

Normal POV

"Sora, are you okay? You look kind of down, ya."

Under the spray of water issuing from the shower, Sora did not even here Wakka's question. Tidus prodded him in the ribs in question, and still Sora did not respond. He would be staying after school to finish an essay in the library, and he didn't want to think of anything but that wonderful essay. An essay with actual facts—no guessing involved. Just plain black and white facts on creamy computer paper. Oh yes, that sounded nice.

-0-0-

Riku knew things were going to be a bit iffy after school, especially with the rising tension between Leon and Cloud. But they had a job to do that night and it needed to come first. Early in the morning Riku had received a vision and immediately called up Cloud on his cell, but when the time came to describe the charge, he couldn't do it. _'Just not one of those people who're easily described…' _So the three had decided to go down to the club and actually meet the guy. He was evil, as his vision had shown, and there would be no sweet talking with him. Quick and silent—that was to be his end.

Leon wore a stoic mask and walked with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets. Cloud had a deep look of depression on his face and Riku decided that it would be best to leave him alone—he would perk up when the mission actually started. His prediction came true and as they were entering the club Cloud put on the most adorable smile as he walked through. Even Leon lightened up a little bit.

The club was packed full of people smoking, making out, and other things. Cigarette smoke followed them everywhere and the stale stench of alcohol clung to their clothes. Repressing their gag reflex they moved forward with those insane smiles, winking at someone every once in a while. Their target was sitting at one of the secluded tables with a girl in his lap, and currently the two were trying to suck the others face off. Cloud gagged beneath his hand at the sight, but Leon and Riku strolled straight up the man and demanded a chat.

He stared at the two strangers before him and after a moment shoved the girl off his lap; she went away reluctantly. Riku gave a sweet innocent smile before leaning close to the man and taking in his features. He was a pudgy man, though by no means out of shape, and his eyes were the most piercing green Riku had ever seen. He stank of beer and cigarettes—though who didn't?—and his teeth were slightly yellowed. His eyes though… Riku could feel them piercing through him, and shifted a little. Definitely the eyes of a killer.

He looked back at Cloud and saw that he had already pulled out his sketchbook and was making a quick outline of the man. They stepped back as Leon approached, running a hand over the man's neck until he found the pressure point and squeezed. The man was out in seconds. Giving a dry laugh Leon picked up the man and tossed him over his shoulder, exiting through the back door; no one even noticed them leaving.

Around the back of the club they went, walking slowly so that Leon would be able to keep up, and down the road towards the river.

"So what was it," Leon grunted, "that this guy did?"

"Involved in selling of girls to sex-crazed lunatics," Riku replied nonchalantly, flipping his hair back, "among other things. But he's not even the boss—that's what we need to get out of him."

"I thought…" Cloud whispered, "That this was supposed to be quick and painless."

"Oh it will be, when we actually get around to killing him."

Cloud gulped, instinctively wanting to move closer to Leon. But he still hadn't forgiven Leon for what had happened in P.E., and he was already carrying a heavy body. But he still had to ask…

"So what happened in P.E., Leon?"

The bitterness in his voice was clear, but Leon barely cared. He shifted the body on his shoulder, feeling his muscles strain and knowing he would be sore in the morning. What could he possibly say to Cloud—that he was actually falling for the small brunette? No, not after what had transpired between him and Cloud. Cloud would go ballistic and their entire mission would be screwed.

"I'm just doing my job," he replied. "Weren't you the one who was telling me what a great job I could do?"

Cloud bristled, regretting he ever spoke those words. Riku simply watched with growing interest—something was going on that he wasn't aware of.

"So you're going to get close to him, huh? Why not let Riku do it; you know **he's** the one who's interested in Sora!"

Riku had to agree with that one; why did Leon always get to befriend the charges?

"And now you're going to take him away from Riku?"

"I didn't ask for this responsibility, _Cloud_," Leon hissed, voice dripping with venom. "So you'll excuse me if I take a little pleasure from it."

"So you're just going to forget what happened between us?" Cloud's voice was getting higher, a sure sign that he was near breaking point.

Riku raised an eyebrow: what had happened between them? Leon tensed as the man he carried gave a low moan and stirred.

"We'll talk about this later," Riku concluded as Leon tied the man to a tree. "So just drop it."

And as the man fully awoke the three were grim-faced and ready to take their anger out on anything else.

-0-0-

Much to his surprise, Sora had finished the paper so early he was at a loss for what to do next. It was rare that he had time to himself, between homework and housework, and had decided to stalk his three most interesting half-friends. Riku and Cloud had hung around outside the student council office while Leon finished his after school duties, and then had disappeared together in the distance, off walking somewhere. Curious and with nothing better to do, Sora followed them.

Again to his surprise he found them walking near the clubbing district of the city and while the smarter part of him warned him nonstop to go back but he was still curious, still wondering what boys age fifteen and sixteen would be doing there.

They ended up actually going into a club, and that Sora was **not** going to do. He could wait out there for a while if they had to be in there for a long time. Fortunately he didn't have to wait, as they came out the back door—he was lucky he could still see them. But something was wrong. Leon was carrying something over his shoulder, and as Sora crept closer he realized with horror that it was a body.

A **body**.

Quiet as a mouse he continued on, but it seemed that something was dragging him back. The tension that hung over the three was unbearable, making Sora want to scream, kick, run—do something. But it was not yet dark enough for him to have a shield against being seen, and he had heard his name come up in the three's conversation.

"So you're going to get close to him, huh? Why not let Riku do it; you know **he's** the one who's interested in Sora!"

He gave a small 'eep' at that. Riku **and** Leon were…interested in him? His head spun and he had to stop for a moment and duck behind a tree to catch his breath. They were still arguing, their voices rising and rising. He then heard a low moan and peered out from behind his hiding place to see Leon tying the body up to a tree.

A sound scream echoed through the little thicket of trees in which they stood before Cloud came forward and punched the man in the mouth to shut him up. Sora gaped, shocked that Cloud could focus so much power in a punch; he thought he saw a tooth go flying. In the fading light he could see that the man was bleeding, a little trickle of blood coming down from where Cloud had punched him. He then sat down and began drawing in his sketchbook, occasionally looking up at the man.

'_Oh my god…' _Sora covered his mouth with his hand, fearful that if he made any noise he would be discovered.

He watched the man be tortured and tormented for several minutes, silent until Leon pulled a small dagger from his pocket and began carving in the man's arm. Sora's blue eyes went wide and his heartbeat increased so fast that he doubled over in pain. The upbeat pounding of his heart was all he could hear; it was so loud he couldn't even hear the man when he gave into the torture and told them what they wanted to hear. He was dizzy beyond imagination when Leon raised the dagger high above his head and brought it crashing down into the man's heart.

Sora screamed as the man did, and it was his saving grace for no one heard him. He turned and ran as Riku and Leon hefted the man and tossed him into the river to float down to the other side of the city through the night. He was blinded, blinded by dear and the coming dark, and hoping to God that he would never have to see them again. He stumbled over several branches and tripped, crashing onto the pavement with such force that his skin broke and bled. He ran on, crying and gasping for breath, not knowing what to do.

His house loomed into view and he ran for it, ran for it with all the speed he could muster. The door was locked, to his horror, and he pounded on it with his fists until his mother frantically opened it.

"Sora! Sora what happened!"

He puked. The disgusting mixture of spit and his lunch was all over the floor in a matter of seconds and he collapsed right in the middle of it, not caring. He would have eaten all of it to forget what he had just seen. _But…_his mind reeled. _What did I see? _The horrible image of Leon bringing down the knife, the man's horrible scream as his eyes bugged out and blood poured from the wound—that's what he saw.

"Someone…someone was chasing me," he panted, wrapping his arms around himself to stop from shaking. It was a horrible lie and he knew it but he just couldn't tell his mother the truth.

"Did you see their face?" Suki lifted her son from the mess, carrying him upstairs to the bathroom.

"N…no."

"Undress and jump in," she commanded as she turned the knobs; hot water poured out. "I'm calling the police."

"No!" Sora gasped, grabbing his mother's wrist. "I mean…I just panicked. It was probably just a drunk or something. I'm…fine."

Suki took a deep breath and glanced at her son as he pulled his shirt over his head. "If you're sure…"

He nodded, cinnamon locks bouncing a bit, "Positive. It was my fault for staying out too late."

She gave a soft nod and exited, closing the door behind her. Sora jumped up and locked it, stripping from the rest of his clothes and getting into the tub. The warm water felt good against his skin, though it stung his bruised arms, which he had used to break his fall on the cement. The water turned a murky shade of red.

He didn't know why he lied to his mother—surely three of his classmates **murdering** a man qualified as important—but something told him that it wasn't any of his business. Still…it would hurt to keep this secret to himself. Never again would he be able to look at any of them the same way. He choked, remembering that Leon and Riku were after him. No sir! They could fuck each other for all he cared, but he was going to avoid them as much as possible.

'_Shit. What if they…' _What if he was next? He paled, trying to push the thought from mind. They'd had all year to kill him, and every other year that they'd been in school together. It was a ridiculous thought brought on by the trauma of the evening. But with any luck, he would be able to make it through the first night of carrying this secret within himself. Grasping the soap firmly in his hand he began to scrub himself clean of all the grime and dirt that had stuck to him, as if washing away the muck would help him wash away the memories he had acquired.

**

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And we are finished with the chapter. Yes, yes—a lot happened in that one. Now the plot thickens. Grah, I'm not good with displaying fearful emotions so sorry if it was a bit drab. I tried. " And my, Cloud was harsh in this one. So not a pansy. XD Alright everyone I'm off to play a round of tennis so I'll see you next chapter! Until then, readers!**

**-Calismo**


	5. Chapter Five

**Hello again, readers, and thank you for all the wonderful reviews! –spin, twirl, trip– Ow. Okay, time to stop being stupid. Well for you readers in the U. S. of A. your Spring Break has already come and gone, no? Aren't you lucky. Mine, however, shall begin at the end of this week, so expect some updates. So where did we leave off? Oh yeah, traumatic experiences that left Sora soaking in the tub…I think. " Well we'll just pick up from where we left off. On with the drama! **

**By the way – has anyone played Kingdom Hearts 2? I haven't gotten it yet, but before I do I have to beat the first one. **

**Disclaimer: I own no part of this story except some OC's and stuff like that. Characters of Kingdom Hearts © to SquareEnix / Jupiter. Only the story is © to Calismo. **

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Chapter Five**

Sora dragged himself out of the tub and let the water drain, too tired to really do anything. After the large amounts of adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins slowed down he was slowly turning into a large mass of mush. He was tired, ready to go to bed and sleep the night away. If anyone woke him before noon they'd find themselves castrated in the worst way possible. A throb in his head sent the brunette to his knees. He leaned over the rim of the sink and retched again, the disgusting substance mixing with the red.

He watched the last of the bloody water swirl down the drain.

A clang downstairs tipped him off that his mother, no doubt, was cooking a very large meal for him. Five courses, he would bet on it. He wondered what the odds were of him escaping to bed without dinner—he didn't have much of an appetite. Unfortunately for him his mother thought food was the answer to all problems. He opened the door, shivering as the cold air of the hallway bit at his skin, the wounds.

He was so happy the next day was Saturday.

"I never want to see those three again," he muttered, wrapping the towel tighter around his waist, wincing as it cut into one of the bruises. And to think he had thought Riku was worth his time, the vainglorious bastard!

Down the hallway to his bedroom he walked, not even bothering to close the door as he entered.

-0-0-

Leon stumbled into his house, carrying a sleeping Riku on his back. The boy had passed out after fixing another bout of arguments between Cloud and himself. He had little sympathy for the boy, though. No one had asked him to interfere. In fact, it would have been better if he'd allowed the two to say what they really felt, instead of shushing them. The tension was going to only keep growing. He should have just tossed the silver haired beauty onto the floor and went to sleep.

…But it was kind of hard to be mad at the one person who was trying to make you happy.

So instead he placed the sleeping boy on the couch, tossed a blanket on him—which was immediately snatched up—and went upstairs.

"No! No split ends!" he heard Riku shouting about his hair.

Leon, meanwhile, was running a bath for when Riku woke up. Goodness knows he would smell. He plopped himself down on the edge of the tub rim, watching the water fall. They'd extracted every bit of information possible from the target. With what they had, they could put the leader away right now. But it would have to wait. Sora was first.

Lazily running a hand through the water, Leon thought of Sora. The boy was undoubtedly the cutest thing he'd ever seen; cuteness that was doubled with the uncertainty of teenage years and naivety that stuck to him like a second skin. Leon ran a hand through his hair. Just thinking about Sora made him feel…different. Like there was something about the boy that was unique or separate from everyone else.

'So why exactly does he need to die?'

He drew his hand from the water, shook free the remaining droplets, and turned off the water. Perhaps he was thinking too much. He'd never questioned Riku's visions – they'd never been wrong. Every one of them had deserved to die. But Sora…

"What's he done?"

Killing him would be complicated, when it came to that. He was only fourteen, fifteen years old. He had a family, albeit a small one. He had a future. He couldn't just disappear off the face of the earth; there was no reason for it. Once that problem was taken care of though, the choices were numerous. Take him out of the city and poison him, choke him, suffocate him, stab him – and those were just the basics.

Before anything, though, he was going to find out why Riku had pinned the 'ill me' sign on Sora's back.

The shrill blast of the phone pushed Leon back into the present. He sprinted out of the bathroom and into his room and, rolling over his bed, grabbed the phone.

"Hello?"

"You're a self-conscious son of a bitch and I can't stand how you're treating me!"

Blink, blink. "Cloud…?"

"I don't know what's up with you anymore. You don't talk to me!" Leon could envision the tears that were probably filling his blue eyes right now.

He took a deep breath, "Smart. Attacking me over the phone."

He heard Cloud sigh, "Riku's just trying to help."

"Look, about what you said…I'm not sure where I," he paused for words, "stand. I won't lie to you, I do like you."

Cloud was silent.

"I enjoyed what we shared and I wish that I could say I want to be with you but…I like Sora as well."

A sharp intake of breath was his only response before the dial tone rang in his ears. Not that he had expected anything else. He put the phone down, gently, and stood against the wall, a bit confused.

"Leon?"

Riku leaned sleepily against the doorframe, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah?"

"I had another vision about Sora," he yawned.

Leon quirked an eyebrow as if to say 'go on.'

"You were pleasuring him."

A slow blush spread across Leon's face as Riku gave into another yawn. When finished, he opened his mouth to talk. But before he could get a word out his eyes went glassy and he fell to the floor. _'Shit, Riku!' _Leon picked up the silver haired boy and placed him in his bed. Time passed - about thirty or so minutes - during which time Riku began moaning and spasming in his sleep. Leon smirked as he guessed what he was dreaming about. He knew he was right when Riku gave a strangled cry before releasing. The process continued once more before Riku awoke, shaking.

"Leon...?"

"You were dreaming," Leon smirked, "and came twice. Who were you screwing?"

"Hmph. Why I am I in your bed?"

"You fainted. Have you been feeling okay?" Leon sat on the bed, pushing back the covers.

Riku sighed, straddling Leon and wrapping his arms around the brunette's neck, lifting his aquamarine eyes in silent begging. He undulated against him in ecstacy as Leon kissed him.

"Riku, you're still hard. Knock it off."

"Fuck me and maybe I will," Riku purred sensually. "You don't seem to mind changing men. Cloud, Sora…why not me?"

"Sora's a target."

"And Cloud really loves you."

"Don't start. Instead, tell me why Sora's our latest target."

Riku sighed dramatically. "Nothing much about the vision, actually. Just a picture of Sora standing over some bodies and a voice saying 'he will follow those before him.'"

"Are you sure it was Sora?"

Riku flashed his eyes in a mocking sort of way, "Do you really think there's anyone out there who looks like Sora?"

An immediate, "no," was the reply.

That's what I thought," Riku chuckled, nuzzling Leon's neck. "Let's go to sleep."

-0-0-

"Sora…man you look terrible!"

"Murgh…"

Tidus poked the brunette in the shoulder, hard. Sora had been driven to school that day, and Tidus had not failed to see the worried look on his mother's face when he exited the car. He wondered what had happened to Sora last night. So many bruises on his arms an legs, some cuts against his face. Tidus sighed and rubbed Sora's back before moving away.

"Hey what's up with Sora?" Wakka pushed back his chair and craned his neck to see his friend. "Looks like he went through the meet grinder or something, ya?"

"Oh, hey Cloud."

Sora, who had practically mutated into a human vegetable by that point, shot up and exited the room by means of the connecting door. Soundly, swiftly – no one noticed him.

"Tidus, have you seen Sora anywhere?"

"Right over – hey, where'd he go?"

Ah, the benefits of lunch period. He took a breath and exited Yukari-sensei's class which was, luckily, right next to the stairwell. Never had the school seen anyone scale three flights of stairs so fast. He spent the rest of the lunch period wandering the halls until math started. His heart skipped a beat as he entered and saw Cloud leaning against his – _My desk! Mine! _– in a nonchalant way. His legs were shaking as he walked towards the blond.

"Alright everyone, take a seat." Their sensei clapped her hands.

Sora nearly fainted with relief as he saw Cloud frown and move to his own desk. _'Oh, oh thank God.' _

"Okay people, we're working quadratic equations here so let's get started."

In the confusing-ness of their material, Sora completely forgot about his current problems. He loved his sensei and wanted to understand – he really did – but the stuff was just too complicated. 'Do this, do that, and the occasional no not that!' drove the class mad. At long last, after ten explanations of the material, a frustrating worksheet, and three pieces of chalk, their sensei called a break. _'All good and well for everyone else,' _Sora thought ruefully as Cloud approached him.

"Cloooooud-kun!" A voice rang out from the doorway.

Sora's eyes flicked to the doorway where his two childhood friends, Kairi and Namine, were standing. Namine's eyes were roaming around the room, her fingers twitching as if suddenly inspired to draw. Kairi was twirling her seashell necklace.

"Mihada-sensei wants to see you about the Culture Fest."

"Hai, hai. I'm coming."

Smoothly he changed directions – Sora exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding – and exited with the two giggling girls. Sora leaned back in his chair, groaning.

Two classes over Leon and Riku were also groaning. Romeo and Juliet was the current book and Riku had just been cast as Romeo. Leon groaned out of sympathy and Riku because the inevitable kissing scene would leave him stuck with whatever girl played Juliet for the rest of the year.

"Why can't they cast guys as Juliet?" he whispered.

"Please," Leon rolled his eyes. "If it makes you feel better, I'm the narrator."

"Lionheart! Front and center."

"Hai, sensei."

The girls swooned as Leon – completely oblivious to their adoration – walked by. Riku shook his head in an 'I-understand-but-pity-you' sort of way. Leon, professional to the end, didn't pause to spare them the time of day let alone return their affections. He took his usual stance against the whiteboard with one foot against the wall and began to read.

"…in fair Verona where we lay our scene…"

His voice was deep and throaty, and utterly sexy. Perfectly muscled – not overly so – every movement sent the girls giggling. His hair, just the way it flipped into his eyes, was even enough to send Riku to his knees. He was truly the epitome of cold perfection.

"…Our toils here will strive to mend."

"Excellent. Alright servants, foreward."

Leon took a seat and the two spaced out until it was Riku's turn to speak. Leon tried to pay attention but failed miserably. Cloud's most recent report of Sora was disturbing. _'Ignoring us. Why would he?' _He resolved to find out.

After class he sent Riku and Cloud off home and set out to find Sora. In the end he cornered him in the art room. The brunette gave an audible gasp and dropped the jar of paint he was holding. Red splattered all across the floor, as if it had been drained from Sora's body himself. The smaller boy paled, trembled, and fainted dead away. Leon sighed – everyone was fainting on him lately – and picked the boy up. He winced as wet paint hit his hands and his shirt.

"Sora, Sora…What's gotten into you lately?"

The nurse was more than happy to keep Sora in her office until he woke up, and left Leon in charge of keeping him company. He passed the time by evaluating the boy's sleeping form, but so many have – and will – evaluate the boy during the course of the story that it's not necessary to describe his thoughts. It was a good half-hour before the boy's brilliant blue eyes flickered and opened, a low moan escaping him as he reached up to touch his head.

"Hey. You fainted," Leon said kindly.

Sora pushed back in his bed as his eyes widened in fear. "Ouch."

"Careful," Leon breathed and grabbed his wrist. "Don't over exert yourself. Now…you want to tell me why you've been avoiding us lately?"

"I've just been busy…" Sora shyly whispered.

"Hm. Well, can't help but be busy can we?" Leon rubbed his neck in a thoughtful way. "Actually, they have been bogging us down with homework."

"Uh, yeah."

"Well I'm glad we've had this talk," Leon leaned in very close to Sora and whispered. "Happy to know we haven't done anything _wrong_."

He noticed Sora's eyes focus on the red paint on his shirt, then flick back up to his own stormy grey eyes. The audible shaky breath didn't help to reassure Leon that Sora was telling the whole truth but… He'd scared the boy too much today, so it'd be best to just let him go.

"See you later, Sora…"

-0-0-

"_Now Sora, honey, I know this isn't the best time for me to be leaving, but the company really needs me down there."_

"It'll be fine," Sora lay on his bed thinking about an earlier conversation with his mom. "This is her big chance to move up the corporate ladder. She'll never get another chance after this."

"_That's great mom! How long will it be? A week? Two?"_

He closed his blue eyes and remembered how apprehensive she looked as she answered his question.

"_One month."_

One whole month of him all alone in the house that held nothing but bad memories. A dead father, a blood bath, too many shed tears. He shook his head. He had to stop – he was just scaring himself. His runaway imagination was, well, running away again and he needed to calm down. There was no proof that Riku and co. were after him. None at all.

He grimaced and smashed the pillow down over his face. It. Would. Be. Fine.

**

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My. Well this took a little longer than I'd wished – compliments of an unreliable laptop – but I finally have it. –twitch– Once again I thank Carilles for editing. Much love to ya! And ye see that button down at the bottom? Click click click! Feed the hungry authoress! Rawr! -glomp-**


	6. Chapter Six

**Hiya everyone. Well, I first have to say that I'm really sorry that this is uber-late. My computer is officially dead – unless my father is lying to me ; - and I dare not update anything on my mother's computer. I don't need them seeing this yaoi. But until I get a new computer I will be updating my stories on the library computers, and I don't get to go to the library that often so… I'm really sorry. **

**On happier note, I beat Kingdom Hearts recently. :cheers: And I'm working on that SoraxLeon story for one of you's guys. I'm sorry I can't remember your username. :sniff: But until then, lets keep going with this story, k? **

**Disclaimer : I own nothing. All things © Square-Enix. **

**NOTE – Yaoi yaoi yaoi! If it's not your cup of tea, click that back button right now or prepare to be smothered in the yaoi goodness! Ya-ha!**

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Chapter Six**

"Mom?"

"Hm?"

"Tell me more about dad."

Sora watched as his mother moved forward and placed a white rose on his father's tombstone then step back to allow him to place one on the stone as well. The two were doing their monthly visit to the tomb earlier this month since Sora's mother was leaving the next day. While Sora was still a bit…iffy about his mother leaving him for the month, he was happy that she had at least gotten to see the Culture Fest. Which was a big hit for their class, since they had so much talent. Sora had even sat through an excruciating hour of sitting still to have his picture drawn by Cloud.

"Hm. Well, you're nothing like him. You're nothing like either of us, actually. We're both neat freaks and you…" his mother laughed. "There are just so many things to tell about your father. He was sweet, and charming, and everything you're going to grow up to be…hopefully."

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself. I'm going to the car, meet me there when you're finished up here, okay?"

"Got it."

His mother waved and ran down the side of the hill down to the welcome center. She was such a kid, Sora wondered whether she would make it all the way through a business trip without the big-shots cutting her down. _'Not to worry. Mom is vicious when it comes to business.' _He watched her fall and tumble the rest of the way down to the sidewalk. _'Though they wouldn't know it by looking at her.' _He giggled.

"What's so funny?"

Sora gasped and spun around to meet the intruding voice. It was Leon. He looked rather weird in his fancy clothes – somehow he didn't seem to be the one to wear fancy when it wasn't required. His storm grey eyes were wandering over Sora who, unfortunately, was beginning to blush. Swallowing, Sora managed a smile and a wave.

"Oh, nothing. Just…just my mom."

Leon followed his gaze to where Sora had been watching. He smirked a little bit; she was spinning round and round in front of the visitor's center with a goofy smile on her face. Much like Sora's usual goofy grins.

"So…what are you doing here, Leon?"

"Oh you know, visiting old dead relatives. Nothing much," Leon shrugged. "You?"

"Uh…yeah, same."

For some reason, Leon saw a flicker of doubt and uncertainty in Sora's beautiful blue eyes. Then…

"Hello, Leon. Who is this?"

Sora most definitely saw the anger and pain that flickered through Leon's eyes. He watched him put on a respectful face and turn to meet the people who were coming to meet him.

"Mother, Father. This is Sora. Sora, my mother and father."

Well, it was a great thing indeed for Sora to see Leon's parents. It put into his mind the thought that Leon was just a normal boy, just like him. After all, his parents looked normal enough. And what decent pair of parents would let their son go around killing people when he was only fifteen, on the verge of sixteen? He reached out to shake Leon's father's hand, he bowed to his mother.

"Pleasure to meet you," he murmured.

"And you. My, what a strapping lad," Leon's father beamed. "Well, must be off. Leon, when you're ready."

It pained Sora to see that Leon clearly didn't appreciate his father as much as he should. He would give anything to see his father's face again. Anything. Leon nodded curtly and turned away to move down the hill, taking Sora with him. But Sora was still very happy. He couldn't change what he'd seen near the club but maybe there was a reason for it. An explanation. All he thought was that Leon couldn't be a murderer.

(Two feet away – "Is that the charge?" Whisper, whisper.)

Leon dragged Sora down the hill and dropped him off at the door of the visitor center, where his mother could be seen still spinning inside. Sora gave Leon a weak smile, and a wave, and then disappeared into the building.

The next day at school, Sora surprised Cloud by searching the blond out and asking how he'd been.

"Uh…fine," Cloud swiftly closed his artbook – he had been touching up the spikes on Sora's second drawing – and offered an easy smile. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Been busy," Sora sighed. "So much homework."

"I know what you mean."

The two grinned, waved, and went their separate ways. They wouldn't have any classes until gym tomorrow. It was a beautiful day, and Sora had just seen his mother off to her wonderful trip. _'It really is a good opportunity.' _His grin stretched further across his face. His first class of the day was art; one of his favorite classes. _'I'm nowhere near as good as Cloud but…'_

As he entered the room he saw the teacher placing one of Cloud's sculptures on the examination tables. Followed by another, and another, and another. It overwhelmed the brunette to see so much talent on one table.

"What are you doing, sensei?"

"Good morning, Sora," his teacher checked the positions of the sculptures, then turned to face his student. "I'm having some art dealers check out Cloud's work. But don't tell him okay?"

"You got it."

Sora took his seat and continued scrutinizing the sculptures. He noticed Cloud favored one-winged angels with pained expressions. _'Masochistic,' _he noted upon seeing one crying blood. Sensei noticed what he was looking at.

"I'm just hoping these weren't formed from…personal experiences."

"No kidding."

Slowly the classroom filled, each student staring with awe at the collection of angels and other creatures. Sora, personally, was fixed on the one in the center. Unlike the other angels it had two wings – painted a dark grey – and had a stern look on its face. There were no tears, bloody or normal, and the eyes…

"Beautiful eyes, aren't they?" sensei beamed; Sora nodded.

The eyes were a stunning storm-grey.

Sensei went up front to begin class and to explain what all the sculptures were for. He warned his students not to tell anyone outside the class and "especially not to tell Cloud." Sora nodded mechanically like the rest of the class, knowing that they were going to blab to everyone they saw the moment class was over. Still, Cloud would have no idea what was going on. When Sensei dismissed them, Sora scurried over to the cabinet that had been designated to him at the beginning of the quarter and pulled out a long white scroll.

At the back desk – situated right in front of the double windows – he unrolled his projects. As always, it disgusted him. But it seemed to disgust him more than ever today. _'It looks horrible.' _The disgust grew with each second, until he picked it up and crumpled it in his hand. He'd been trying to draw an old memory from his childhood: a summery day in the backyard of his home. They'd made that place their playground before his father died. _'Maybe I need to focus on now.' _He tossed his paper in the wastebasket.

"I'm so happy we have another month to do this," Sora sighed as he grabbed a block of clay and began to amuse himself with it. Soon he had squished out something similar to a rose. Delighted, he continued to squish out more random petals.

He was better with clay than drawing, but he'd wanted a challenge for the project. _'A challenge,' _he thought, _'that I'm beginning to regret. Where does Cloud get all that talent?' _

From the scraps of other classmates, Sora molded clay in the form of leaves, attached them to the thorny stem, and set it in the oven; twenty minutes later it would be dry enough to paint. And while his rose slowly baked he picked out the glazes he would need. White – for the color – and red – for the blood – and green and brown – for the leaves and stem.

"Hey Sora, when will your clay thing be done?" Yuna prodded Sora in the chest suddenly.

"Uh…20 minutes."

"What? But then my stuff won't have time to bake! Sora, you're such a pain!"

Sora bit his lip and averted his eyes.

"Hey Yuna, knock it off," Tidus flicked her forehead and shoved her away. "Stop picking on Sora."

Sora grinned.

Twenty minutes later he was diligently painting the blood spots on his rose. Glaze dried quickly, and Sora hoped to show it to Sensei before class ended. He gasped as his hand slipped and the paint slid down the side of the white rose. Actually, it didn't look too bad.

"Hey, that looks good," Sensei appeared suddenly. "But what are you going to do with it?"

"I dunno," Sora smiled.

He handed the rose to Sensei, who placed it once again in the baker and gave instructions to keep it in for only three minutes. He set his watch timer and sat down. There was nothing to do – he certainly wasn't going to try his final project again. Better to give it some space. Yuna's death glare was upon him, as was Tidus' easy smile. _'He's getting nicer,' _Sora wondered. _'I'm getting a bit suspicious.'_

It wasn't that Tidus wasn't nice; it was just that he always had something mean to say, some witty comment that made Sora look dumb. He raked a hand through his spikes as another look at Tidus sent him down memory lane. Who could forget the most recent swirly, or the time he had managed to steal Sora's lunch for an entire week. And he would never forget the time Tidus and Wakka had dragged him into the bathroom, stripped him, and redressed him entirely in leather. They didn't even stop to consider what they were doing as they stripped him from his boxers. He blushed as he glanced again at Tidus.

"Sora, turn off that stupid alarm!"

"Oh, sorry!" he clicked the watch and turned to the baker, to pull out his rose.

When the bell rang some ten minutes later Sora was halfway out the door when he knew what he could do with his rose. He turned abruptly, nearly knocking one of his classmates over, and approached the examination table.

"Sensei, will you put the rose there?"

"Where?"

"In the hand of that crying angel."

Sensei took the rose and placed it very gently between the spaced fingers until the stem was just barely touching the fingers. Sensei twisted the rose until the blood stains matched that of the tears, then stood back to survey it.

"I'll see if Cloud accepts it," Sensei smiled.

"Thank you!"

"Get to class, Sora!"

"Hello, Sora. How have you been?" Riku flipped a strand of hair out of his eyes and smiled happily at the brunette.

"R-riku…" Sora breathed. "Hi. I…I'm fine."

"That's good," Riku beamed. "Haven't seen you in a while. I've missed you."

"Oh, no…" Sora faltered.

"Sure I have! You're so shy, Sora. But what are you doing here afterhours?"

Sora wasn't to keen on telling the truth. He'd been dreading going home to an empty house. Too many memories for him to handle on his own. He wasn't all for inviting someone to his home, but…

"Riku, would you walk me home?"

Blink, blink. "Sure."

"Thanks."

As they walked the two spoke about Cloud. Mostly about his artistic talent. They discussed the sculptures Sensei had set out for the viewing, and Riku described some of Cloud's unseen pictures.

"He likes death," Riku spoke softly. "Thinks it's really powerful and strengthening. I understand his thought."

"Have you ever…"

"…had anyone I know die? No."

"Then you can't possibly know what it feels like. What it does to people," Sora turned away.

"Sora, what the – ?"

"I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Sora!"

He ran off, but Riku was faster. In a matter of moments he was pinned beneath the silver haired boy. Several of the cuts he'd acquired from running from them near the club began to burn.

"You're crushing me!" he gasped.

Swiftly Riku pulled off a nice backflip and stepped away from Sora.

"Sorry, Sora," Riku looked pained. "I'm just not used to having what I want elude me for so long."

"What are you – ?"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sora."

And as Riku turned and walked away, Sora was let with the feeling that there was no one in the world left but him.

"Hey Leon, I screwed up your plan."

"Riku…"

Riku gave a brief overview of his moments with Sora, saying that all was well until they hit Cloud's muse.

"And he went berserk!"

"Is he onto us?"

"Nah – his dad died, remember?"

"Huh?"

Riku ripped open a box of Pocky and proceeded to stuff them down his throat.

"You know, in fourth grade?"

"That…that was Sora?" Leon's eyes went wide. "Hey, what's Sora's last name?"

"Minari."

Groaning, Leon buried his head in his hands. It all made sense. The widowed other, the blue eyes, the tombstone.

"Riku, I'll be out of school for a while. Grab all the homework for me, okay?"

"What? Where are you going."

Leon paused at the door, "I need to see the former Three."

"What? Why?"

"Because I think I know why Sora's on the hit list."

**

* * *

Whew. That one was kind of short. Expect the Naruto update in a few days, hopefully, and the newest Furuba update a week or two after that. I'm taking that one much more slowly. Uwahaha, once again I apologize for making you guys wait. I disappeared for a long while didn't I? ; Feed the hungry authoress, rawr:squeezes you all: Love you!**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Wow, I wrote this one pretty quick. Unfortunately with school -coughdeathtoschoolcough- I was unable to update. I have a working computer now, though, so things are looking up. So...how have all of you been? Hope schools not making your life miserable. Phew. Well, while rereading this story I noticed it was very unorganized and leaps around a lot. I apologize for that (but you guys seem to love it so...) and promise that things will be more concrete. Hopefully. ; Anyways. Lot's of dialogue in here. LOTS.**

**Disclaimer: Everything save my OC's belong to Square Enix and whatnot. **

**NOTE: One word: yaoi. Since no flames have appeared, these will stop now.**

**Special Note: Poison d'Avril - Your SxL story will be up as soon as I finish the next chapter of this. Much love to ya.**

**

* * *

Chapter Seven**

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

Silence.

"How about now?"

"No. If you ask me one more time I'm going to --"

"Guys...move," a feeble voice begged. "I gotta..."

"OMG are you gonna --?" Nod. "Ack! Run!"

Leon and Riku leaned back in their seats and pulled their feet in to allow Cloud to scurry past them and into the bathroom. Flying made Cloud nervous; Leon and Riku arguing during flying made him sick. No doubt the poor blond was emptying the full contents of his rather large lunch right now. Sighin, Leon signaled one of the flight attendants.

"Yes, Mr. Leonhart?"

Behind his hands, Riku made a face. Leon - used to being addressed as such and knowing he could never talk people out of doing it - ordered osme medicine and a soda for Cloud and sent the woman on her way. When she disappeared behind the curtain separating the first and second class the two sat in silence. Leon was wondering why nothing ever went the way he wanted it to, and Riku was thinking of the right way to pose his question to Leon. When he could not think of any way except being blunt, he turned to Leon and, with a charming smile, began chatting.

"While Cloud is praying to the porcelain god," Riku said, "I'd like to know what you're going to do about him. I mean, you did kiss him."

Leon shot him a look, then melted under the boy's genuine concern.

"Don't pin me to be cold and heartless," said brunette muttered. "I love Cloud. But something happens when I'm with Sora.'

"Um, yeah. Hormones take over. And Sora's way too innocent to see what he does to people."

"..."

"And you have the added responsibility of cozying up to him for the kill," Riku persisted. "But for now, remember that our only choice is to kill him. Best stick to Cloud."

Leon snorted, "You're propbably concocting an escape plan for him as we speak."

A wink. "Maybe. But don't forget that I want him."

At that moment Cloud came scrambling back up the aisle to his seat. It was lucky the entire 1st class compartment was empty - sometimes it paid for Leon's father to have power - or Cloud would have hit nearly all the aisle people for sure. Riku pulled up his legs and allowed Cloud to stumble in. The queasy feeling was not gone from him; he looked an awful mess. Fortunately the flight attendant reappeared then. Cloud washed his medicine down with a swig of 7UP, then began to drowse off. Riku gave Leon a look over the boy's form then moved off to sit in the veeery back. His prefered seat.

Leon watched Cloud as he drifted off. He looked like an angel when he slept. Leon reached out a hand and stroked Cloud's cheek. Cloud sighed softly.

"Squall..." he murmured.

Leon winced. No one had called him Squall since...since... Well, since a very long time ago. He could never really remember the reason he shunned his true name. But he could hardly punish Cloud for it now, in his state. He'd just have to let it go...

An hour later, the loudspeaker crackled to life.

"Ladies and gentlemen please fasten your seatbelts as we are beginning our descent and will be landing shortly."

Leon gently leaned over to Cloud and buckled him in - he'd long since fallen asleep - then attended to himself. It was just going to be him on this trip at first. But somehow Riku and Cloud had managed to worm their way in. No doubt they'd gone straight to his father. The man could never find fault with them.

The steady purring of the airplane as it slowly but steadily brought them down from the sky was comforting. In the back, RIku clicked on his seatbelt and watched the clouds fly by through the window. He was a natural flyer - never got sick or even the slightest bit queasy. Unlike Cloud, whose face never seemed to lose its green tint as long as they were up in the air. 'Poor think,' Riku thought. He hoped Leon was taking good care of him.

When the plane finally made contact with the ground - at which point CLoud moaned and clutched his stomach - the three began gathering their things and prepared to depart. When the flight attendants opened the doors Cloud was first off. Alas, he wasn't steady enough and tottered around like a newborn babe. In other words he took thee wobbly steps before collapsing. Leon shifted his carry-on bag before striding over to CLoud and picking the boy up. To his dismay he foudn that the boy was shaking. Riku came running up behind them, wrinkling his nose. He knew what was going to happen. Leon would get to play the knight in shining armor while he carried the bags.

As if on cue, Leon tossed his and Cloud's bags at him. 'At least,' Riku bared his teeth at Leon's bck, 'we've only one suitcase.'

"Riku, the bags are over there. We'll be over here."

Leon watched the boy near stomp off, wondering why he was so upset. At least he wasn't the one being stared at by half the airport for carrying a completely molestable boy in his arms. The many adults stared blatantly at him; he met their gazes with an equal one of his own. Eventually they all backed off. He was very relieved, once Riku returned, to get out of that place.

Riku hailed a taxi once outside, dumped their stuff in the back, and got in.

"Where to?"

"The Conan Estate," Leon hissed; Cloud was digging his nails into his arms.

"Right-o."

The cab shot off at a god-awful speed, making Cloud dig his nails further into Leon's skin. Riku and Leon looked down at the poor blond. Things always seemed to happen to him. Riku remembered how Cloud once spilled a can of paint down his front and sensei had given them the okay to shower him down in the gym lockerrooms. Oh yes, that was amusing. As the cab continued on at its dreadful speed, Cloud gave another loud moan.

The driver flicked his eyes up to the rearview mirror, "Hey none of that queer stuff in my cab."

Leon shot him a very cold glare. The driver only smiled as he slowed the vehicle in front of a large iron gate. Leon forked over the money as Riku collected the bags (still grumbling) and soon the cab was gone and the three standing (well, except Cloud) in front of the gate.

"Which one is this?" Riku murmured.

Leon reached out and pushed a large red button, "Cloud."

Conan Estate was a large, beautiful space full of flowers. As the gates opened and the three were allowed in, they took a look around and surveyed.

The mansion was, like any other mansion, very large and looming. It was bery pretty, and from what they could see from the balconies they were elaborately decorated. What would the actual rooms be like? But time enough to see the mansion when they got to it. Leon signaled to Riku and led the way. The path up to the front door was a long and winding one. If there weren't so many flowers planted everywhere along the yard Leon would've simply cut across. But as it was, there was no way they could have manuevered themselves and the suitcase through without damaging the plants - they stuck to the path.

"You know," Riku called up to Leon with a grin, "we could pretend the path is yellow and sing 'Follow The Yellow Brick Road.'"

"I'll stab you with a spork."

"Just a suggestion."

The two walk on, Cloud still in Leon's arms. As they round the final bend in the path the front door swings open and a man comes out to meet them. "Hello Leon." Grin, grin.

"Conan."

"Would you like to come in?"

"Very much."

Leon passed through the door; Riku followed with the bags. Entering the house was pretty much entering Cloud's basement studio. Easels, sketchbooks, pens, charcoals, paint. They trod carefully and tried not to step on anything. Leon gave Cloud to Conan, who bent down to place him on the couch. This action gave Riku an excellent opportunity to appraise him. He smirked.

"The man has an ass that craves - if not demands - worship.," Riku whispered to Leon.

"I thought you were for Sora," Leon whispered back.

"I am. But I can respect a man with a good ass, can't I?"

The conversation was cut off as Conan straightened - much to Riku's disappointment - and turned to face them. "What are you three doing here?"

"We came," Leon started, "to talk about a charge. Or rather I did, and they came along for the ride."

"And Cloud is the artist, right? Hm. Rather frail..."

"Bad flyer," Leon and Riku replied simultaneously.

"Ah. Well, why don't we settle you two in, have you wash up, and talk over dinner?"

The two needed no persuasion. Conan - still as dark-haired and blue eyed as Leon remembered him - led them up a long marble staircase to one of the many guest rooms. After they dumped their stuff and disappeared into the bathroom Conan smiled and shut the door behind them.

Cloud smelled food. And paint. Overcome by these smells, he rose. He needed food more than paint at the moment, and he tried to locate the smell. But he was stopped by the beautiful painting that sat on the easel before him.

"Wow..."

"Like that, do ya?"

Cloud spun around to face Conan, who was leaning against the wall, watching him. He nodded. Conan smiled.

"I just can't finish it. Dunno what's missing."

Cloud turned back to the picture to inspect it, eyes still wide with awe. It was a landscape picture probably of something somewhere on the estate. Everything was filled save for a small square at the bottom, which was still clear of paint. Conan gave a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his wild mane of hair.

"I've tried everything. People, animals, leaving it blank, random items -- nothing works."

"You'll get it eventually," Cloud flashed a beautiful smile. "Just let it alone for a while."

"Leave what alone? Oh, Cloud. You're up."

Leon was coming down the staircase looking very disheveled. Cloud and Conan shot him questioning looks.

"Fell alseep," he surpressed a yawn.

"And Riku?"

"Still alseep."

"Ah."

Conan excused himself with the excuse of checking the foot, leaving Cloud and Leon alone. Politely the two ignored each other as long as they could. Cloud engaged his interest once again in Conan's picture while Leon walked around looking at the pictures Conan had up on the wall. Most of them were paintings, but there were some taken by cameras. Presently, CLoud stood with Leon and looked at the pictures as well. How surprised he was when he saw a picture of Leon.

"Woah! Leon, is that you?"

A small flush came over Leon's face, "Yeah..."

Absolutely mortified, Leon was. He despised pictures of any kind - or rather, the one's with him in them. He knew that there would be no escaping conversation on this picture; Cloud was already reaching up to take the picture off the wall. Gently he popped the back off, and pulled the picture out.

"Squall; age 6. Oh, look at how small you were! You look so cute!"

Inside, Leon burned at the mention of his real name, but he gave no indication of it. Cloud was grinning maniacally.

"How come Conan has a picture of you?"

"Knows my father. I used to come out here when I was younger."

"Was that when they still called you 'Squall?'" Cloud asked quietly, fixing the picture and putting it back on the wall.

"...Yeah."

"Will you ever let me call you that?"

"No."

It was a quick, harsh answer, and it stung. Hurt, Cloud turned away. "I bet you'd let Sora call you Squall."

Leon stared at Cloud, then laughed. It wasn't that what the blond had said was funny, it was just that he was acting so...childish. Well, Leon wasn't doing any better by laughing at him, but that wasn't the point. He ruffled the boy's hair, still laughing.

"Is this why you've come? To talk about Sora?"

Cloud didn't respond.

Leon's laughter died down and he began to speak. His brows pulled together as he frowned; his voice was soft, full of anger and regret.

"I care about Sora, CLoud. Think of what we're doing to him. He's lost his father already, and now he's going to be killed."

"I'm not happy with what we're doing either, but you can't choose the targets."

"I know. But I'm not going to kill him."

"What?"

"I'm...quitting. And I'm going to make sure he isn't killed," Leon muttered. "The world doesn't need us, Cloud. It never did. All those other targets, their deaths were valid. Or more valid than Sora's. They caused pain to hundreds of people. But Sora...he's just an innocent kid. Like we us. Like we should have been."

"Leon..."

The brunette took a step back from Cloud, then turned and walked off towards the dining room. Cloud was angry now. Despite being the most peaceable in the group, the blond had a serious temper to be feared.

"You can't just stop killing because you get a charge close to you!" he shouted.

"Watch me."

"Hey, what's going on?" Riku's voice came directly into Cloud's ear. "Lover's quarell?"

"He's being impossible!" Cloud hissed, grabbing Riku's hand and near dragging him into the dining room.

Riku sat between Cloud and Leon to keep any blood from being shed on Conan's very nice tablecloth. The tension was too thick for words; thicker than any other time Riku could ever remember. He was getting nervous, and their anger was getting childish. Much of Conan's delicious food was wated because they wouldn't eat anything that the other would. At one point Conan had to leave the room. He walked out into a different room and didn't come back for quite a while. Riku suspected he was letting out all his pent up laughter.

When he did come back, Leon began his questioning.

"Our latest charge is a boy named Sora ," Leon started. He paused -- had he imagined it, or had Conan gone a bit paler? "He's our age, goes to our school, and came with a vague vision. I want to know why he's on the hit list."

"huh? Vision?"

Riku described it to him.

Conan forked a pile of sweet potatoes and brought them to his mouth to eat. He chewed on them as well as his thoughts for a moment, then offered his thoughts.

"All I can think of is that he's being taken out before he can do something dreadful in the future. A sort of plan to save time and stress for you later?"

"Leon," Cloud cut in suddenly, "isn't going to kill him."

"Leon?" Conan questioned.

"Cloud, keep out of this," Riku whispered.

"No! He's being selfish and unfair to all the other's he's killed."

"Who cares about them? They were evil!" Leon shouted. "Sora is innocent. And he's scared of us. I think he know's what's going on."

"He doesn't know," Riku tried to console him. "He's just picking up weird vibes from us. Perfectly natural."

Conan, well aware of the tension that was always able to spring up between this group, let the three argue a bit. He, meanwhile, stole the last chocolate crossciant and chocolate covered strawberry. When the three finally ran out of steam, they sat down and quickly finished their dinners in silence.

After everyone was completley finished Leon offered to do the dishes, and Cloud went outside to draw. That left Conan and Riku to themselves; they went down to the drawing room to talk. Riku took a deep breath, then clung onto Conan and burst into pretend tears.

"Conan-san, how could you have left me for so long like that!?"

Conan laughed, ruffling Riku's hair. "I'm sorry. But it was jsut too much to see Leon pouting like that."

The two sat down on chairs opposite each other, RIku trying to get his hair back to perfection. Conan leaned forward, tucked a silver strand behind Riku's ear, then assumed a very business-like pose.

"Now Riku, what say you bring me up to speed on those two's relationship?"

With all the torture they'd put him through, Riku was all too glad to oblige.

"They love each other but they're really different. Leon keeps it in, Cloud lets it out. And Sora's only complicated the matter."

"Hm. Well if Sora's the charge..."

Riku turned away, "It's not just that. I...really like Sora. I want to know him. But with Leon stalking him and my personality..."

"What about it?"

"I'm too strong. Sora's lost his father and people pick on him. It's like he doesn't believe that someone could actually care for him. I keep pushing him away."

"Riku."

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to save him?" Conan fixed him with a very probing stare, making the boy somewhat uncomfortable.

"I agree with both of them. It's not fair to not kill Sora just because we're closer to him. But at the same time...he is really innocent. It should be a crime," Riku smiled softly. He moved to the window and stared out of it in silence. Conan took that as an undecided and, allowing Riku his privacy, exited the room. From his place at the window, Riku could just make out, in the distance, a flash of blond hair. Cloud really did have wild hair, though it was much more tameable than Sora's.

_'Sora...' _It was hard to believe that such an innocent, adorable, I-don't-comprehend-how-molestable-I-am boy could turn out so...evil. Just picturing the boy's wild, goofy smile madr Riku happy. But so cuaght up in happiness, Riku wasn't expecting the vision that came. His shaking hands clutched the windowsill as he sank to his knees. His eyes were shut tight against the distraction of the room as the vision came, as always, full force.

There was Cloud. For a moment, Riku's heart stopped. Was Cloud to become a target as well? He relaxed though, as Leon came into the picture. The two started --making out? Was this the past? No; Riku shifted his attention from his preoccupied friends and took in some detail of their surroundings. Then the vision vanished.

"They were here...in Conan's house!" he gasped, still woozy from the vision. "I've gotta see this for myself."

Stumbling from the room, down the hall, and up the stairs, Riku sought to find the location that could quite possibly change his and his friend's future.

An hour later, Riku was still searching. Conan's mansion was just too big, and the doors that looked like they were leading somewhere led to a different place entirely. The fervor with which Riku had begun his search was still burning inside him, but had died down just a bit. He was getting frustrated at his lack of sense of direction, his getting lost, and his unquenchable curiousity. He leaned against the wall for a rest.

From somewhere outside, a bell was rung. So near it was, so loud! It was rung with so much power; Riku was beyond frightened. He flung a hand out in his fright; it cuaght the frame of one of the many painting and as Riku brought his hand down, the picture came with it. If that wasn't enough to shake him, then the wall disappearing behind him and tossing him into a hidden room definately did the trick.

Gingerly picking himself up, Riku stared warily about the room. What cuaght his attention first was the layout. It was similar to the drawing room in which he and Conan had conversed. The designs were simple but exquisite and there were art supplies everywhere. Nearly every inch of the floor was covered. A secret artroom. Completely understanding of someone's need of a private room, Riku would have backed out right then. But, he saw a picture.

_'That's impossible.' _Carefully moving through the room, Riku snatched the picture off the shelf for further examination. Leon. Sora. Together. Riku bit his lip trying to understand. They were about five or six, were very dirty, and had their arms slung around each other like good friends.

"Riku."

It was Conan. Guiltily, inquiringly, Riku turned to see him. His hands still grasped the picture, though his attention was entirely focused on Conan.

"Conan. What is this?" he demanded. "They're...together."

"They used to be together all the time," Conan answered softly. "Out here, running around the grounds. THey loved each other; they were best friends."

"I don' t understand."

"They used to be..."

Riku was entranced with Conan's actions. The way his eyes were beginning to fill with tears, the way he bit his lip so hard it drew blood. Was the topic really so painful for him? His hands were shaking, Riku noticed. Shaking like his had been earlier.

Riku whispered, "Used to be what, Conan?"

"Before Leon's father stripped them of the memory," Conan's eyes locked with Riku's, "They used to be cousins."

**

* * *

Well what do you know. They were related. Techinically they still are but you know...claps It's gonna get interesting now, readers. Oh if ever there was a cliffhanger, this has to be it. For now those, feed the authoress with comments and cookies! --munch munch-**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Heh. It was evil, wasn't it? So perfectly evil of me to stop it at that moment. You know what's even more evil? You're not gonna get to know what happens until NEXT CHAPTER! DUN DUN DUUUUN! Nup. We're going back to our kawaii Sora-chan for this chapter. Love you guys! With such wonderful reviewers, I just couldn't help but write the next chapter as fast as possible. ; I keep pushing everything back for this one but oh well!**

**Disclaimer: (Sung to the tune of 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame')**

**If I owned Kingdom Hearts I'd  
****Not be writing this fic  
****I'd be yaoiing up KH3  
****Lot's of RikuxSora moments for me  
****But alas! I have no rights to it  
****Instead I write all this stuff  
****These stories I content myself with  
****By filling 'em with smut and fluff! **

**(Inspired by Slashapalooza's disclaimer to the second entry to her fic "Separate Lives." You should check it out. It's much better than mine. Mucho love to Slashy-san!)**

**NOTE: I apologize for all the spelling errors. I'm sure there are many. But my computer has no spell check. ;o;**

**

* * *

Chapter Eight**

When Sora awoke the next morning -- rather, when he had just fallen asleep and the alarm clock had gone off in his ear -- he was tempted to simply pull the covers back over his head and go back to sleep. It took all his willpower to fight against that feeling. After all, it had taken him days to convince his mother that this was the sort of thing he wouldn't do whilst she was gone. And his mother always had a way of finding out his secrets. Shiver, shiver. So, with a despairing sigh, said brunette pulled himself out of bed and proceeded to go through the morning routine.

He dressed slowly, like a zombie, not bothering to pick out clothes that matched. He never did. With lumbering steps he made his way into the bathroom, where he proceeded to brush his teeth, his hair, paint his fingernails... _'No. WAKE UP IDIOT!' _Sora balled his fists up and rubbed his eyes furiously. It was too early to be gender confused, way too early.

Thoughts of Riku were still on his mind. He just couldn't forget the way the boy had stared at him, eyes penetrating every defense Sora had ever erected and going straight to his core. He shivered. It wasn't that he didn't like the boy -- au contrair, he was sure Riku was a very nice person to be with -- it was just that the whole murder scene was creepy, and Leon supposedly liked him, and what about Cloud? But even further than that, it just didn't seem possible that anyone could like him. _Him. Sora. _The loner since fourth grade, the one to be picked last in gym class, the teased one. How could anyone like him?

He snorted, "Feel the love, Sora. I have serious self-esteem issues."

The brunette was awake enough now to function properly, and went downstairs for breakfast. He was going to speak to Riku today, and spell out exactly why he could not be with him. Of course, the reasons would all be lies -- he couldn't very well tell him that he knew about that night near the club, now could he? -- but that wasn't the point. The point was that he was not good enough for Riku, and he wasn't ready for a relationship.

"Just explain, and everything will be fine," he muttered, popping the last piece of toast in his mouth. "Very simple."

_'And don't let him manipulate you,' _his subconscious told him firmly. That in mind, he grabbed his bag and ran out the door. (1)

The bus was just clanking to a stop in front of his bus stop. Sora dashed across the street, circling around the bus and hopping on just as the bus driver opened the doors. He gave the driver his usual smile and moved to the back. The only seat open was the same one which Cloud had been occupying on Sora's birthday. _'The day all this crap started happening,' _Sora realized. If he didn't know any better he would have said that Cloud was sititng in the seat again. But no, it was a girl.

Her hair was blond -- paler than Cloud's, but still just as pretty -- but it was very straight; it hung around her face. She was hunched over an artbook, just as Cloud had been, and was coloring something in. Sora swallowed.

"Uh, excuse me. May I sit here?"

The girl looked up, her bright blue eyes locking immediately with Sora's. And then Sora realized who it was. Namine. The girl who always hung around Kairi at school. "Oh, yeah! Here, let me move my stuff."

"Thanks."

Sora took the seat cautiously, still disturbed at the similarity of this meeting to that of Cloud's. He found his eyes wandering over to the girl's sketchbook. She smiled a soft, shy smile and held the sketchbook out to him. He smiled back, accepting it. He flipped through the pages, marvelling at the beautiful mix of colors and lines, the way everything seemed to jump out at him. He turned to the very first page, reading her name aloud.

"Namine Strife."

_'Strife. Where have I heard that -- holy shit! Cloud!' _"Uh, Namine. Are you Cloud's sister?"

Namine laughed and gave him a weird look, "Of course. You didn't know that, Sora?"

He shook his head in disbelief. He'd known Namine since they were little. Their mother's used to arrange play dates for the two of them. But, Sora realized, they had never actually gone over to each other's houses. The outings were usually in the park, at the pool, or somewhere outside. And when his father had died... He'd stopped hanging around people period. So he never would have had the chance to meet Cloud, would he? Namine gave another laugh.

"I can't believe you never knew I was Cloud's sister. How about all those times we were talking, or hugging?"

Sora smiled sheepishly, knowing he was going to get hit for his answer, "Um...romantic attraction?"

Namine's mouth dropped, "Sora you sicko!"

True to his prediction, Sora recieved a smart whack to the back of his head. He never expected Namine to have such a good hit -- he was seeing _stars_.

"Ow. Namine...that hurt."

A grinning Namine struck a ninja pose -- or something akin to a ninja pose, since she was sitting down -- and sent one of her hands directly towards Sora's neck, pulling away just centimeters before contact. Sora gasped.

"That's the result of every type of martial arts crammed into three years of serious practice," Namine let her arms drop. "Roxas took it with me."

"Rox...as?" Sora's eyes widened.

Namine's eyes widened. "No way, Sora. You _did _know that Roxas was my _other _brother, didn't you?"

"Holy crap what is **wrong **with the world today? How did I not know this?!" Sora shook Namine gently. "How many brothers do you _have_?"

"Six," Namine said calmly. "Cloud, Roxas, Demyx, Zell, Kakeru, and Haru. You really didn't know?"

"I had no idea."

The bus jerked to a stop suddenly, sending both Namine's and Sora's heads flying into the back of the seat in front of them. Holding their tender skulls as the driver shouted an apology and continued on, the two realized how long it had really been since they'd spoken to each other. How much they'd missed it. Namine put away her sketchbook and colors, not wanting anything to distract her during the short time she had to actually speak to an old friend. Sora settled back into his seat, remembering how easy it had been to talk to Namine, how much he had loved her company. The two spent the entire bus ride catching up, Namine telling about her passion for art, Sora telling about his passion for life in general. He was smiling and laughing like he hadn't laughed in a long time, and he liked it.

"How's Kairi?"

"Same as always. We should rope her into a trip to the mall with us or something."

"Definately!"

"Hey, Sora..." Namine's eyes were sparkling. "You should come over after school, say hello to everyone. They all remember you, even if you didn't know we were related."

"Stop reminding me," the brunette groaned. "You nearly made my head explode."

Giggle. "Sorry. Well, you won't see Cloud. He went off somewhere with Riku and Leon. They do that sometimes."

"Riku won't be at school?" Sora asked suddenly, a bit put out.

"Nup. Unless they get back early. They're due home tonight. Why?"

"Uh, no reason."

Namine stared at him and, as he began to redden, used the powers invested in her when she was born a girl, put two and two together, and set her mouth in a perfect 'O' as she comprehended the situation. Sora shook his head in desperation, trying to make her understand what she couldn't understand. That _yes _he liked Riku but _no_, there was no way in the seven hells that he could be with him. Eventually, as Namine allowed a wicked smirk to grace her face, Sora stopped doing anything. She wouldn't listen to anything he would say.

"Just wait til I tell Kairi!" she gasped.

"Nooooo!" Sora moaned. "If you must, but **please** keep it quiet."

"Scouts honor!" Namine held up the corresponding symbol. "But seriously, will you come over?"

Sora closed his eyes. It would be better than going home to his empty house, watching television until his stomach alerted him to his hungriness, then making a half-assed dinner. Besides, Namine's mom rocked. She was always doing something cool. Like yoga. Sora shivered as he remembered how she had tried to help him into a yoga position. His feet were in front of his face before he could say no, and the pain...

Shiver, shiver.

"Sure. I'll come."

Namine smiled.

* * *

True to her word, Riku was not at school. Or Leon, or Cloud. While it was nice not to have to avoid his classmates, he had really wanted to speak to Riku. And with every second that his misison was put off, the more his confidence in himself slipped. If it kept on like this the next time he saw Riku he would shriek and run away. Sora hung his head. That was it. After he was finished at Namine's, he was going to see Riku. What's the worst that could happen?

* * *

After the last class let out, Sora met up with Namine in the hallway. She was with Kairi, and the redhead gave him a very squishy, very lack-of-breath welcome. When Namine pried Kairi's arms from around Sora's chest, said boy stumbled back gasping. As much as Kairi would have loved to hang out with the two of them, she had dance practice to get to. She took her leave of them very soon. Which left Sora and Namine heading to the latter's house. Namine, of course, led the way. And soon Sora was being taken to a part of the city he'd never been in before.

Namine lived on Paopu Drive, far away from his own street of Destiny Avenue. The houses were all identical, unlike the mismatched houses around his area of the city. They were cream colored, with blue roofs and blue trimmings around the windows and doors. Namine led him up to one of the identical houses, number 13.

"I'm home!" Namine held onto Sora's shoulder as she slipped out of her shoes. "Mom! I brought Sora over!"

Sora slipped out of his own shoes and followed Namine through her house, marvelling at the space. His own house was probably only half the size of this one. Not to say that his house was small -- Namine's house was just _huge_. Namine kept calling her hello's to everyone as they walked through the spacious hallways to the kitchen, where Namine was suddenly whacked with a cooking mitt.

"NAMINE. For all your shouting, no one _hears you_ so please --"

Mrs. Strife was cut off mid-sentence as Namine stepped behind Sora and pushed him forward. She froze, one hand raised with another oven mitt poised to whack her daughter, the other holding a very complicated cooking recipie all cramped onto one tiny piece of paper. Her blue eyes widened, widened, widenend; Sora had never seen someone's eyes go as wide as Mrs. Strife's did. Namine giggled into his shirt -- "You killed her." -- and Sora could only manage a weak smile and a wave.

"Hi, Mrs. Strife."

"Oh my gosh!"

Suddenly Sora was being suffocated again, thanks to the other enthusiastic hug of yet another one of the female gender. Was it just him, or were they born with amazing arm strength? Just as he felt that he was about to die, Mrs. Strife pulled back. She was beaming, her eyes full of love.

"_Sora_, how long has it _been_?" she breathed, giving him a more gentle hug. "It must have been four, five years! Well, let me take a look at you."

She held him out at arms length and raked her eyes up and down his body, then spun him around a few times. Sora wondered if she was going to check his teeth.

"You've fleshed out nicely, dear. Not that I had any doubt that you wouldn't. But you're still too skinny -- you're just like my Cloud. He could eat an entire Thanksgiving meal and not put on any weight."

Sora smiled; his mother said the same thing all the time.

"And how is Suki? Is she here with you?"

And so Sora was pulled into another 'catching up' speech. He told Mrs. Strife about his life recently. How he was recieving decent grades, not getting into trouble, his latest hopes and dreams. He told her about how his mother was gone on business, how she wouldn't be back for a few weeks, how he was home alone. At this point, she promptly invited him to dinner. Sora politely refused, mumbling something about how it would be too much for her, how he was intruding. She whacked him with the oven mitt.

"Honestly, Sora. You're like one of my children! And I know exactly what you'll do if you go home. You'll get hungry and pig out on junk food or something of the like. And you'll ruin that perfect face of yours. Nope, you're not going anywhere. Not even if I have to chain you to the floor myself."

"I'll do it," Namine piped up as she placed a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies and a glass of milk in front of Sora.

But Sora wasn't listening. Sora was enjoying the smell of those _delicious _oatmeal raisin cookies that he hadn't had in the longest time. He picked one up, enjoying the warmth that spread through his hand at the contact, and promptly devoured it. Then he took a swig of milk and repeated the process until the entire snack was gone. They had him. He was staying for dinner.

"Excellent," Mrs. Strife bustled about. "Namine, why don't you two start homework while dinner is cooking?"

"Sure thing, mom."

Namine took Sora's hand and the two manuevered past the long dining room table and out of the cooking/eating area of the house. Namine's room, as she explained it to him, was at the very top of the house in the attic. This had come about when she had refused to share a room with Roxas, close as they were.

"You had to share a room?"

"Yup. But when Roxas started going out with Axel, I figured they needed their privacy. A place to hang out where no one could come in. I tell you, Roxas found an awesome lock. _No one _gets in his room without his permission."

"Roxas is going out with Axel?"

Namine shook her head. Sora had heard something about that a few months ago, but had passed it off as just a rumor. Axel was a year older than them, after all. He'd thought it'd been some person jealous of Roxas who wanted to trash his reputation by passing him off as gay. But wait. If he really was going out with Axel...

"So, Roxas is..."

"Gay?" a voice said behind him. "Yeah."

Sora spun at the closeness of the voice, only to find that Roxas was standing behind him. Rather, leaning behind him. The blond was leaning against the wall, a Sea Salt popsicle in his hand. It was beginning to drip on the floor, which Namine pointed out to him with a glare. Apparently she was in charge of keeping the floors clean. Roxas shrugged and brought the popscicle to his mouth, slurping it with an obscene noise.

"Any problems with me batting for the other team, Sora?"

"None whatsoever," Sora replied truthfully. Roxas was a cool person -- he wasn't cruel to people younger than him, he tolerated a lot of things that he didn't like, and if he wanted to date Axel then Sora had no problem with it. Besides, Axel was cool. Sora remembered a time in art class where he had helped Sora mix complicated colors with paint for his term project. Axel was A-Okay in Sora's book.

Roxas smiled, "Good. Cuz, you know, you look kind of queer yourself."

Sora blushed. Roxas smiled even wider, reaching forward and tousling his cinnamon locks.

"I'm just kidding. You staying for dinner?" Nod. "Good. You can sit between me and Axel, buddy."

He disappeared into his room, shutting the door softly behind him. Namine told him that he should be honored -- "Usually nothing can separate those two -- before continuing down the hallway. The next room they stopped at was occupied by two other boys, both on their knees and clutching game controllers as if for their life. Sora watches, grinning, as they move and sway with the controllers -- probably a racing game.

"Demyx, Zell -- say hello to Sora."

"Hi, Sora," the two reply simultaneously, not looking up.

Namine rolls her eyes, "Sora's staying for dinner. So don't freak when you see him there and accuse me of bringing home a boyfriend."

"Right. Eating Sora for dinner. Got it."

Sora snerked and stepped backwards, trying to hide his laughter. Demyx and Zell were juniors up at the school, so he never saw much of them. He wondered when they would realize what they said, if they ever did at all. Namine closed the door behind them.

"Honestly, those two..."

"Where are your other brothers?"

"Cloud is gone, like I said, and Haru and Kakeru are in the college dorms right now. They needed a break from the high school chaos."

"I don't blame them," Sora dodged a playful punch from Namine. "Well, that leaves your room."

Namine nodded. Up the stairs to the attic the two went, Sora trying to ignore the way the steps moaned and groaned beneath his feet at every step. He was expecting to see a very clean, very organized room on the other side of the doorway, but he was surprised. Art supplies were everywhere. Various tubes of paint, stacks of pastels, charcoal, sketch paper, computer paper -- Sora was afraid to move. Namine groaned.

"That's right -- I forgot to clean up before I left. Well, how about you start your homework while I clean?"

"Sounds good."

Sora found a spot devoid of art clutter and claimed it as his own. He slid his backpack off of his shoulders -- which were starting to ache; there were too many books involved with high school -- and delved into it, looking for his World History papers. They were doing an essay about the differences of Louis XIV and Peter the Great, to be done in class next Friday. Their only true assignment for this essay was twenty notecards for each kings, telling about their physical appearances and policies -- both national and foreign. (2) He had already finished Louis' cards, painstakingly boring as they were to write. Peter was much more interesting.

After reading the assigned section for the night, Sora felt his concentration slipping. He couldn't believe that he was here, at Namine's house, after so long. He couldn't believe that he had just made a true friend in Roxas -- or at least, he thought he was a true friend, -- and maybe with Axel also. He couldn't believe that he had been invited to dinner, that Namine's siblings had been friendly to him. He couldn't believe that he was having so much fun in the house of a person who might be trying to kill him.

Cloud. It all boiled down to Cloud. Wasn't he due back tonight? What would he think if he found him here, breaking bread with his family? Laughing, joking, sitting in what could possibly be _his _seat. Sora's stomach dropped. What was he doing here? He chewed his pencil eraser softly, trying to calm down. There was still no proof

about what they had done. Not really. Even though he'd seen what he'd seen, wasn't it possible that he had seen the wrong thing? That years of stress and loneliness had finally taken a toll on his mental state of health.

_'That's true,' _he thought to himself. _'And then we have to take into account the fact that I was _stalking _them. What kind of sick pervert stalks his classmates? _I'm _the one that probably needs help here, not them.' _

He began to shake softly as his mind formed probably the most logical thought he had ever -- or would ever -- have. _'I need to confront them.' _

Now, Sora had never been good at confrontation. From the time his father died, to the time he had recieved his first swirly, to the time when some boy had stolen his favorite crown necklace, to the incident at the club, Sora had never confronted anyone about anything. He had too much pride, too much fear; confrontation had _never _been a strong point of Sora Minari. But now... _'I have to stop running away. Besides... maybe I can change it.' _The thought scared him -- had he ever been able to change anything? -- but it calmed him as well. He took a deep breath, let the rewards and consequences of doing such a risky thing run through him, and smiled.

"I can see the floor!" Namine mock gasped and pretended to faint. "C'mere and sit on the bed, So-ra."

Sora smiled at the way she played with the syllables of his name. They'd always done that when they were little. Gathering up his stuff, Sora flung himself on the bed next to Namine, who giggled. She was always laughing, always smiling at something. She had a beautiful laugh. Sora laughed just hearing her laugh. And soon the two were clutching each others shoulder's, trying to make each other stop laughing but only laughing harder in the process. They collapsed on the soft bed after a few minutes of non-stop laughter, trying to get their breath back. The homework lay on the floor, forgotten.

When Mrs. Strife called them all downstairs for dinner half an hour later, Sora and Namine were very much restored. They had managed to finish off their World History homework and had just started on their Geometry homework when they were summoned.

"There are a few extra guests here tonight; hope nobody minds," Mrs. Strife called out.

Everyone was sitting at the table when they arrived. Even Kairi was there. Seeing this, Namine squealed and took a seat next to her. Which left Sora to sit between Roxas and Axel, just as the previous had promised. It was close but everyone fit in the table comfortably. In order the seating chart (going clockwise) was: Mrs. Strife, Aerith, Yuffie -- two good friends of Mrs. Strife's -- Demyx, Zell, Kairi, Namine, Axel, Sora, Roxas, and Mr. Strife.

Sora smiled upon seeing Mr. Strife again. His first name was Cid (3) and he was one of the most amazing people Sora had met. Despite the fact that he smoked, drank, and swore, Cid was a miracle worker when it came to anything mechanic. Complex machines let down all their defenses in front of him, and he could fix or build just about anything. Mr. Strife nodded solemly at him. It was a nod that said _'Glad you're here.' _

"So, Sora," Axel touseled his hair, "haven't seen you here before."

"Namine just roped him into coming today," Roxas said on the other side of Sora. "But he'll be hanging around a lot more if I know Kairi and Namine."

Axel broke into a slow grin, "Good. Nobody sees you enough, Sora."

"What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ it's like you don't even exist, man! We see you at school -- if we even see you _there_ -- and then you disappear. You don't go outside much, do you?"

Sora shook his head.

Axel patted his shoulder, "That's okay. We'll see you more now."

Sora nodded, eyes tearing up happily.

"H-hey, don't start crying on me!" Axel warned. "I don't do tears."

"He really doesn't," Roxas whispered to Sora. "When I cry, I get whatever I want from him."

Sora's face split into a wide grin. He would remember that.

"Mom, is Cloud going to make it?" Demyx asked. "Cuz he won't be able to fit in."

Mrs. Strife shook her head, "Their flight was delayed. He won't be back until tomorrow."

"Huh. Tough luck."

At this news, Sora let out a long breath. As much as he was ready to confront the trio, he didn't exactly want to do it this night. No -- he would much rather relax, enjoy the good cooking of Mrs. Strife, and maybe play a few video games with Demyx and Zell after dinner. Heck, if he could arrange it, maybe Mrs. Strife would let him spend the night. That happy thought in mind Sora reached out and grabbed the gravy, dumping a good lot of it onto his mashed potatoes. _'Tonight,' _he told himself, _'I'm just going to be happy.' _

**

* * *

Aaaand that's the end of the chapter, loves. oO It's over? Already? Calismo you idiot! That was nine pages of writing. Ten and a little extra if you change it to size twelve font! -smacks self- Baka. -smile- I really loved bringing in the entire Strife family. I was going to make Cloud's siblings entirely OC's, but this is better. I left two of them OC's because handling the six boys of the Strife family would have been too much.**

**Okay, here's the deal. This fic will be finished by the end of Christmas Break. Hopefully. I really need to take out some of the stories that I have going. And by take out, I mean finish. I'm going to update at least four chapters of the Naruto fic -- that one might be the longest, because I have a lot to do with it -- and three of my Furuba fic. That one will be the next one to be finished. Then I will post the SoraxLeon for Poisson d'Avril. **

**And hopefully I can accomplish my goal of posting a cute fic for Christmas. I'll post it on my birthday -- which is the 26th of December -- as a Christmas/Birthday present to myself. Yay! **

**You guys should tell me your birthdays so I can write out a cute fic for your birthdays too! Cuz I luuuuurv you all! -huggle- **

**(1) Locking it behind him, of course. Or did he...?**

**(2) That's what I'm doing at the moment. Only I haven't finished any of my cards. ;**

**(3) I know his name is really Cid Highwind but please bear with. He is blond, and he is cool. Yup.**

**Mucho thanks to my mum, who allowed me to steal her Internet card to post this RIGHT AWAY. Like, the second I finished it. That don't happen very often, m'dears. Okay guys, I'll see you next chapter! Until then, I'm smothering you with love through psychic waves! -sends you love- **

**-Calismo**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Hallo my darlings! -laugh- Well, do you like what I've done? I decided to update everything on Christmas -- you're time, not mine -- and that way give myself more time to write chapters. I didn't get around to that Christmas one-shot, but I've got something better. What's the next biggest celebration after Christmas? NEW YEARS! And by that time I am determined to have made progress in KH II. So maybe I'll even get to use some new characters! Woot! Well anyways, Merry Christmas to you all! Hope ya get what ya want!**

**Disclaimer: Dashing through the snow  
****The laywers chase my sleigh  
****For I have just declared  
****The weirdest thing today  
****I've told the world I own  
****The game called Kingdom Hearts  
****And now they chase me ferverently  
****But I've got a headstart  
****OH! KH I KH II  
****How I love you so  
****Your characters are lovable  
****It hurts to let them go  
****OH! KH I KH II  
****The laywers want to sue  
****But I'd take prison any day  
****Than give up my rights of you!**

**-Cough- Needless to say, I don't own anything already copywrited. I just like making these disclaimer songs. Y.Y Calismo, you are a sad person. **

**

* * *

Chapter Nine**

For the first time in his life, Riku was speechless. When Conan whispered those words -- those mysterious, unbelievable words -- Riku's mind shut down. He couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't do anything. It was too much to process. His mind refused to accept it, but he so wanted it to. If Leon and Sora were related, Leon couldn't possibly be with Sora. And that meant... Riku was free to be with Sora. Just them. It was beautiful. Wonderful. But wait...

"What do you mean 'used to be?'"

Conan smiled bitterly, "Their memories were enchanted away."

"Enchanted...?"

"Leon's father beat the memory out of them."

"He _what_?" Riku's heart wrenched. The thought of Sora and Leon being hit mercilessly. Torutured, abused. "So Sora..."

"No."

Riku stared.

"Sora was chained to the wall and forced to forget," Conan sighed. "Can you imagine watching someone you love being tortured just because you remember them?"

A soft noise came involuntarily from Riku's throat. So Sora hadn't been tortured. Physically, at least. But Leon... Leon had been tortured both ways. Was this why the boy was so cold? Why he had trouble warming up to people? Why he was pulled to Sora?

"And Leon?"

"I think that he still remembers, but refused to remember. Like part of him is still trying to protect Sora."

"But Leon... Leon loves Sora! Like, romantically!"

"No he doesn't. He just thinks he does," Conan took Riku's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "He's just trying to protect Cloud."

"Why would he --?"

Conan shook his head, "Think about it."

Riku thought about it, but nothing came to mind. He didn't know what he was supposed to be looking for. Conan smiled softly and laid his hand on the boy's shoulder. Riku turned his confused eyes to the man, pleading for some bit of sanity in this drama.

"Why would Leon's father do this?" he whispered. "To his only child? His nephew?"

Conan's eyes hardened, but the man didn't answer. Suddenly Riku knew his place with the world. He was lost. He was a confused child, not ready to face such things in life as he already had. He was supposed to be worrying about normal things. About passing Biology (1) and trying to keep up with who was going out with who. Not learning that one of his best friend's father had mentally tortured his current love interest.

"I think I need to go to sleep," Riku mumbled, trying to push through Conan to the door. The man caught his arm. "Hm?"

"If you want to save Sora, then you'll need to be careful. Don't trust anyone."

"I don't know what I want to do anymore."

Conan looked at Riku as if he'd expected as much, "You'll know what to do when the time comes. But before you go, I have to explain to you."

"Explain?"

"This entire situation. If I don't, your head is likely to explode the moment you think about it," Conan said seriously. "Now don't go spouting this information to Leon and Cloud just to get it off your chest. Use it when it's to your advantage."

Riku situated his tired body on the softest of chairs and got comfortable. He was in for a long night.

* * *

When Cloud walked into Roxas' room the next morning -- wanting nothing more than to wish his brother good morning -- he was quite unprepared for the shock he recieved. Roxas. Sora. Together. In the same bed. Cloud stared. Roxas, as if sensing the bordering evil-death-glare stare on his person, stirred and sat up. And then broke out into a grin.

"Heeeey. You're back."

Cloud pulled himself out of his state of shock. "What's going on here?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean Sora? Namine roped him into staying for dinner last night. And I roped him into spending the night."

Cloud nodded, not really focused on what his brother was saying. Inside, he was beginning to burn. Sora seemed to be everywhere lately. _Everywhere. _How was it, he thought, that a person who had -- up until the point of Riku's vision -- been completely invisible to himself and the rest of the world suddenly worm his way into Cloud's life, managing to appear in every aspect of it.

_'At least', _he took a deep breath and released it, ignoring the look of confusion on Roxas' face, '_I still have my art.' _

"You okay, Cloud?" Roxas lifted an eyebrow. "Maybe you should go get some sleep."

Sleep. That sounded good. It had been, after all, a very long night. After they had left Conan's house, things just started to get weirder. Riku had started acting weirdly, staring at him in awe one minute, then tearing up at the sight of Leon the next. Eventually the brunette pushed a pressure point on his neck and knocked him out. The stress was clearly getting to him. Which left, all alone with no one to keep the awkwardness in check, Leon and Cloud.

The two kept to their territory. They didn't ask unneeded questions, didn't make unneeded moves. They were polite in every sense of the word. If any nomal person had looked upon the two boys, they would have sensed nothing wrong. But that didn't make any difference. The two were still hating each other with a barely concealed passion, and no one could tell when they would 'kiss and make up.'

Their flight had ended up being delayed two hours. They ended up crammed into a waiting room with a plane's worth of noisy, complaining people with bouncing baby brats who would not _shut up_. All in all, the situation did nothing to improve their mood. Riku was actually lucky that he was asleep.

To make a long story short, Cloud had dropped his exhausted body onto _his _bed at four in the morning, and was not happy about it. And after seeing Sora asleep with his brother, well, Cloud was positive that it wasn't going to be a good day. He turned on his heel and went back to his bedroom, not planning to come out for a long time.

Just as the door to Cloud's room closed, Sora woke up. He rubbed his bleary eyes and tried to collect his bearings. Where was he? Why did everything smell of Sea Salt popsicles? What was the hard, comforting warmth he was holding onto? Why did he have a sudden craving for oatmeal raisin cookies? And then, it hit him. The Strife household, the box of popsicles he had gone through last night, the comfort that was holding onto Roxas, and those _amazing _cookies that Mrs. Strife made.

Yup, it hit Sora like an 18-wheeler colliding into a brick wall. And then, just as strong, he remembered his mission.

Adrenaline flashed through him, and he tightened his grip on Roxas' arm.

"Woah, Sora! Let go before you amputate my arm!"

"Wha--?" Sora's blue eyes clouded over with confusion. "Oh. Oh, sorry."

"You okay?"

"Y-yeah. Just a, um, bad dream. Listen, Roxas -- can you do me a favor?"

Thirty minutes later, Sora was wondering what he had done wrong in his life. What had he done -- in this life or a past one -- to deserve such torture as he had gone through? As if losing his father wasn't enough, he just _had _to be thrown into this mess of murder and mystery. He just _had _to be standing in front of his love interest's house, hand raised and ready to knock on the door. He just _had _to lose his nerve the mere millisecond before his knuckles hit the smooth wood.

"Damn!"

He bit his lip, frustrated. There was no reason for this. No reason for his fear. _'Except the fact that he might be trying to **kill you**!' _He winced. His conscience sure had a loud voice. Why was he never this loud when Sora was leading himself into temptation? (2)

"Come on, Sora. You can do this."

It took another five minutes of prepping himself in this manner before he regained the courage to knock. Briefly he hoped that no one had looked out their window in the past five minutes, just so that no one would have seen him standing shock still like an idiot. The thought vanished immediately as his fist hit the door. Well, this was it. Confrontation time. Unless he wanted to run. But he didn't think he would make it. His legs weren't very sturdy at the moment.

A little girl opened the door. She had raven black hair and amazingly large, inquiring eyes. Sora smiled, albeit a bit painfully.

"Hi. Is Riku here?"

The girl looked him up and down before blowing out a large breath. "He's still sleeping. He just got back from a trip."

Sora's courage faltered. "Oh. Well, when he wakes up, could you tell him that So--"

"You can come in and wait for him. No one will mind, and he'll be up in a few minutes."

The brunette blanched. "You sure?"

The girl opened the door wide enough for Sora to slip inside. When she was finished rebolting it, she led Sora into a very nice looking living room. The furniture was nearly completely white and spotless, the floors and walls exactly the same. There were random sploshes of color everywhere -- stripes in the pillow cases, a circle of blue in the middle of the rug. It was interestingly random; Sora loved it.

"What's your name?"

Sora jerked his head to the little girl. She was sitting on the arm of one of the white couches, head resting in her hand. It occured to Sora that this girl was Riku's sister. Funny. He'd always thought of Riku as an only child. Guess he was wrong.

"My name is Sora. You?"

"Yumi."

"Yumi-san, nan sai desuka?" (3)

Yumi held up seven fingers. Seven years old. Sora smiled. He remembered when he was seven. Still untainted by the worlds evils. Seven was a good age. Still cute enough to demand whatever you want, and old enough to be taken seriously with more, well, serious things. Yup. Seven was a good time to be alive. He watched as Yumi kicked her feet back and forth, back and forth, and wondered what he was doing here.

Right. The mission. Confrontation. A stop to the war waging between his head and his heart.

Unfortunately, the mission was put on hold as an older, adult version of Riku came downstairs. Sora's jaw began to drop, but he caught himself before it actually fell. Gaping like an idiot is not polite. The man, whom Sora assumed was Riku's father, stopped the moment he spotted Sora.

"And who is this?" He looked at Yumi sternly. Sora suddenly hoped that the man didn't think he was some sort of sick child-molester.

Fortunately, Yumi was on his side. "He came to see Ri-ku."

The man frowned. "And where is Riku?"

"Still asleep," Yumi chirped, jumping off the couch. "Want me to go get him?"

The man nodded, and Yumi ran off. Sora's stomach dropped. There went his only comfort. Riku's father took her spot on the couch, sitting in the exact same postion. It took all of Sora's willpower not to stare. But it was hard. The man was an _Adonis_, for crying out loud. His body practically screamed for him to pay attention to it, and Sora was having a hard time disobeying the order.

"What's your name?"

Sora jumped, unprepared for the question. Of course, he should have been prepared. One doesn't normally allow an annonomyous person go up to see their son, do they?

"My name is Sora, sir." He cursed inwardly -- his voice was cracking.

The man nodded. "My name is Sephiroth. And how do you know my son?"

_'Sephiroth. Pretty name.' _"We go to school together, sir."

"Do you now?"

Sora nodded, feeling stupid. He hoped that Riku would get up soon. The pressure he was feeling was just about to crush him into jelly. Figuratively, of course. He licked his lips, adding an extra layer of hope onto Riku getting up. Luckily for him, the silver haired beauty came barrelling down the stairs just two seconds later. He did not look happy.

His eyes narrowed as he saw his father, sitting calmly as you please, with Sora. There was no way he was going to allow Sora to be left alone with his father -- who knew what the sneaky, manipulative man would do to someone as innocent as Sora? With every ounce of self control he possesed, Riku calmed himself down and walked calmly over to the couches.

Sora, oblivious to Riku's inner turmoil, was facing his own. It was almost out of **his **self control not to laugh at Riku. Not in a rude 'What-the-hell-is-your-rush?' sort of way, but an 'Aw-Riku-is-so-cute!' sort of way. Indeed, Riku did look rather cute. His hair was sticking out at odd angles, and his clothes were all rumpled. Gone was the sleek, stylish hair that looked perfect no matter what. Gone were the (seemingly) tailored clothes that only enhanced what Riku already had:

This was Riku in his natural wake-up form.

"Sora. What are you doing here?" Riku placed himself beside Sora, still wary about his father.

"Oh. I, um, came to talk to you."

"About...?"

Sephiroth said nothing, only observed. Even if the man hadn't been there, Sora would still have felt uncomfortable. He turned his eyes to Riku and gave a pleading glance, his blue eyes becoming wider and rounder. For a moment, Riku thought Sora was going to cry. But he got the gist. It was private.

"Let's go to my room," he murmured, taking Sora's hand and pulling him up from the couch. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, okay."

It was quickly understood by Riku that Sora was probably uncomfortable going up to his room. And at any other time, Riku would have relented. He would have taken the brunette out back to the fancy gardens, or even to the park down the street. But not this time. Sephrioth was downstairs, and anywhere Sephiroth was was not safe for speaking.

"So, Sora..." The lock clicked as Riku twisted it behind him. "What's this about?"

Sora took a deep breath, surveying Riku's room. It was clean, organized, and spacious. Sora wondered if Riku was always so clean or if his sister had warned him to clean the room. It didn't matter. There wasn't much white in this room. It was almost completely free of any white. The walls were a shade of green that nearly matched his eyes. The bed was a mixture of silver and black -- black bed sheets and silver pillows. It looked rather squishy; Sora had to resist the urge to jump onto it.

There were couches and chairs everywhere -- Sora opted instead to sit on one of those.

"Riku..." he took a deep breath. This was it. Now or never. "Are you...trying to kill me?"

**

* * *

A bit fillerish, but you know... is being really weird. It's not showing my update. I dunno if it's me, or FF. Um...so, this is my attempt to try again. Heh. Anyways, this means that the next chapter is going to be uber long. Hope you guys enjoy it.**

**(1) That's my concern.  
(2) Once again, that happens to me.  
(3) 'How old are you?'**

**- Calismo **


	10. Chapter Ten

**Oh my gosh. I have been writing this story for a year. A year, and I only have nine chapters. A year, and you guys have stuck with me through that year. I love you guys. I really really love you guys. And, and we reached 100 reviews! I'm definately writing a one-shot in celebration. What pairing should it be? It can be anything now, since I've beaten all three parts to Kingdom Hearts. Throw some at meh! **

**SO -- here's the plan. Finish this story. Finish my Furuba story (that one will be finished before this) and then Naruto. Whilst working on Naruto, my Sora x Leon fic is going up. Why? Because I've put it off for far too long. -sigh- I went to look at my stats for this story and -sniff- I almost cried. 42 (?) people have this on their favorite, and 82 (?) have it on alert. -cries- I love you guys! **

**Thanks for sticking with, everyone. I know my update pattern is, well, you know... I don't actually have one. -laugh- Love you guys!**

**Disclaimer: No song this time, just a statement. I don't own anything from Kingdom Hearts, nor am I making money from the is fic.**

**NOTE: Um, considering they didn't go to school today, let's make it Saturday. ;; I'm horrible with keeping dates wrapped into the story. **

**

* * *

Chapter Ten**

"Are you...trying to kill me?"

Riku froze in the act of turning on a lamp. His body was draped over a chair, his hand extended and grasping the bronze knob that would activate the light. But he didn't turn it. He remained in that position, frozen. Unbelieving. Slowly he twisted his head to stare at Sora, his silver hair cascading over his shoulder. Was Sora serious?

The brunette **seemed** serious. He was sitting on his chair, obviously uncomfortable, his fingers yanking down at the hem of his shirt. His blue eyes were wide, filled with fear. Riku's heart jolted. Oh yes, he was deadly serious. Riku turned back around and twisted the knob. Sudden light filled the room, casting an eerie glow onto everything.

While Sora sat -- most likely fearing for his life now more than ever -- motionless, Riku was trying to fight his inner demons. On the one hand, he wanted to tell Sora. He wanted to help him, this unfortunate father-less boy. On the other hand... Well, Conan had explained what had happened to Sora's father. Riku was in no hurry to have the same fate set upon himself.

"R-Riku?"

_'Help him, you idiot!' _His head was throbbing. _'You were all for it before! Or, are you all talk?' _

"Riku, are you okay?"

Out of nowhere, Sora's arms were around his shoulders, pulling him away from the lamp. Riku felt immediately the way his body relaxed into the embrace. It felt...nice. To say the very least. Next thing he knew he was sitting on his bed, Sora sitting next to him. His arm was still around Riku's shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Sora spoke quietly. "That-that was a stupid question. Forget I asked it."

Riku, it seemed, had forgotten how to breathe. He wanted to help -- really, he did -- but how do you tell someone that they have a target on their back?

"I'll just be going..."

Sora was leaving? Shit! _'Wake **up**, Riku!' _

"Wait!" Before he knew what he was doing Riku had leapt forward and caught Sora's arm, dragging the boy back to the bed. The brunette squeaked, but it was quickly smothered as Riku pushed his hand against Sora's mouth. Sora's eyes were tearing up.

"Sora, I don't know how you figured out but... You're right."

Sora's body shook, and he pressed roughly against Riku's arm, freeing his mouth. He took a deep, gasping breath and stood up. Slowly, Riku heightened himself to the same position.

Soft footsteps echoed through the room as Sora began backing away from the silver-haired boy. He hadn't expected a confession. He hadn't expected **any **of this to be real -- he had just wanted Riku to give him one of those sexy looks, ruffle his hair, and tell him what a goof he was.

Gods, what was he supposed to do now that it was real?

Riku cautiously reached out a hand to Sora. He winced as Sora gave a shout and stumbled backwards away from it, ending up falling over a chair. Ah. Best not to attempt close proximity with the boy just yet.

But at the same time, Riku couldn't just let Sora shout out his secret to the entire household. He doubted that Sora knew it was just him -- inside that imaginative mind, Sora probably thought his entire family was out to get him. (Which is exactly true.)

"Sora. I understand," Riku spoke as calmly as the current situation allowed -- that you are frightened. But **please **keep your voice down."

Sora scrambled up from the floor, facing Riku with such an intense glare that the beauty had to look away. Sora could be scary when he wanted to.

"**Why **would I do that?" Sora hissed, not allowing Riku to get a word in. Well, at least it was a somewhat quiet hiss. "Do you really expect me to listen to you, after I find out that you --"

Before he could get another word out, Riku tackled. Somehow, if anyone up in the cosmic universe loved him, he would be able to pin Sora down **and **cover his mouth. Luckily for Riku, someone did love him -- he managed to lock his legs around Sora's hips, thus effectively pinning him. With one hand he covered the boy's mouth, with the other he caught Sora's small hands and held them over his head.

"**Listen **to me!" Riku was nearly ready to beg -- if his father came up here, whilst they were in this position, he would be dead. "I. Don't. Want. To. Kill. You. Ack!"

The last word came from the fact that Sora, in a move of brilliance, ran his tongue slowly over Riku's hand, making him pull back. With the little free-ness he had, Sora head-butted Riku in the stomach, causing him to be released completely.

"I don't believe you!"

Suddenly, Sora felt Riku's hand reaching around the back of his neck, drawing him closer. He heard Riku's words -- "Then believe _this_!" -- without really hearing them. As if in slow motion, Sora felt himself being pulled to the inhumanely beautiful, exotic creature that was Riku. And, before he knew it, their lips were crashed together. Sora's breath hitched, entranced at the feeling of his lips against Riku's.

_Gods, is this really happening? _Sora, caught up in this strange feeling of wonder, vaguely realized that he should be kissing Riku back.

But by the time he actually made to, Riku had pulled away. Sora mewled in frustration. What the hell was wrong with him?

Riku took a breath, a bit unnerved by what he had done. It didn't help, by the way, that Sora was unresponsive.

"I...don't know why I want to help you. All I know is that I feel something for you," Riku stammered. "And I want to know what that something is."

A flush worked its way nicely across Sora's face. He knew he shouldn't be feeling this happy, he really shouldn't. But, in a weird sort of way, he was happy. Almost deliriously so, actually. He had to resist the urge to near scream with happiness. A smile, something akin to sick-and-twisted, graced Sora's features. Riku was frightened.

After losing his father, being isolated, learning of his death-target, confronting Riku, and finding out that Riku **liked **him, Sora was just ready to burst. It was all too much. Top it off -- his mother wasn't even around. He was fighting this entire battle by himself. _'No,' _he corrected himself, the sick smile growing, _'Riku is on my side now.' _He sucked in a breath, trying not to laugh.

Riku, wisely, chose to remains silent.

"Riku," he whispered, almost shyly. "I still can't believe you."

Riku's heart wrenched.

"But..." Sora continued.

But?

"But I can return your feelings. And... I can give you a chance to prove yourself."

Timidly, Sora took Riku's hand and entwined their fingers, still blushing. Riku smiled; it was all he could ask for.

"I'll prove it. And I'll save you. But first, we need to get out of here. No one here knows, okay? So let's keep it a secret." Sora nodded.

The two went down the stairs as quietly as they could but, at the very bottom, Sephiroth stood waiting. He was smiling, but Riku saw that it didn't reach his eyes. It was a predatory sort of smile, an "I'll-get-you-my-pretty." smile. Riku scowled.

"Go ahead outside, Sora. I'll be out in a minute."

"M'kay."

When the front door closed completely Riku steeled himself to face his father, who hadn't stopped smiling. When he spoke, his voice was low and silky. It sent shivers spiraling down Riku's spine.

"Riku," his father tilted his head in the direction of the door to indicate he was questioning about Sora. "What is your relationship between that boy?"

"We're just friends," Riku mustered every bit of willpower he possessed to keep his tone lowered and friendly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ami and Chihiro poke their heads through the bars of the stairwell. Eavesdropping.

Sephiroth nodded, "That's good. Because, as you well know, anything further is, well, unforgivable."

He spoke the last word much softer, filling it with disgust and resentment. Riku stiffened -- he knew all too well his father's policies on homosexuals. He heard his bashing them every night at the dinner table, every time something comes up about them on the news. And he never said a word -- until now.

"My relationship with Sora is my business and **my **business only," he said in a tone to match his father's. "And whether I take that relationship any higher is not of your concern. And I will choose whom **I **wish to be with, Father, without regard for their age, gender, or preferance. Now if you'll excuse me, I will be at Leon's."

And with that he turned on his heel and strode out the door, leaving his father speechless behind him.

_

* * *

Knock. Knock. KnockKnock. KnockKnockKnockKnock._

"**I'M COMING!**"

Cursing inwardly, Leon stumbled down the stairs of his home to the front door where some idiot was banging against the door loud enough to raise the dead. Halfway down he tripped, flew down the last few steps, and rammed head-first into the large door. His mental curses soon became vocal. On the other side of the door someone was yelling at him.

"Leon are you okay? Gods, I'm sorry!"

Riku? What the hell was he doing coming over here? Hadn't they seen enough of each other for a while? He, Leon, certainly thought so. But nevertheless he picked himself up from the floor and opened the door.

Imagine his surprise when a timid Sora stepped through the threshhold with him. He watched the way Sora's blue eyes tried to focus on anything and everything at once, and just then realized how horrible his house looked. Look -- there was the spot on the grandfather clock, and his coat rack was useless considering the fact that all the coats were on the floor. He swallowed, hard.

In reality, of course, there was no mess. Just the mind playing with Leon's eyesight.

Riku noticed this immediately and, with a roll of his eyes, tugged Sora into the living room.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Slow dooown, Leon. You're going to make Sora think he's not welcome. How about a drink?" Riku clapped his hands together. "Y'know what? I'll get them. Sora, you like Root Beer, right?"

And before Sora could even nod, Riku had disappeared from the room. Which left him. And Leon. Person II who wanted him dead. Or that's what he thought.

Best not to question it. _'But then...why did Riku leave?' _

Leon, as to be expected, was completely surprised when Sora began speaking.

"I lost my father in fourth grade." (1)

"E-excuse me?"

Sora was staring at the family portrait of the Leonheart's. They were all there, smiling fake smiles. It was always the same picture. His mother to his father's left, himself to his father's right, and Saku in the front. She looked the most happy out of all of them, Leon noticed with a frown. That was good. He was happy for his cousin. Happy that she was happy.

"My father. He died when I was in fourth grade," Sora was speaking softly, so softly that Leon had to move closer to hear him. "One day, he didn't come home. I remember my mother was nearly in hysterics. They found him in a ditch."

A ditch. Wait. Why did that sound so familiar? _'Becauseherefused.' _Because he refused? Where did that come from? Leon's head was throbbing, and he didn't know why. Snaking a hand up to tug his hair, he tried to focus on what Sora was saying.

"And then, almost out of nowhere, it was like I didn't fit in. I realized just how much no one had liked me."

_'Youwannaplay?'_

"I spent fifth grade --"

_'Youwannaplay?'_

" -- all alone."

_'Cmon!Letsplay!'_

"And then... Leon? Leon!"

It hurt, it hurt so much. But why? Not enough sleep, not enough nutrition. Spots were beginning to dance across his vision, red and black and blue. Soon Sora himself was just one big blur, and he was moving too fast. He was making Leon sick. Was he going to throw up? That's what it felt like. He dropped to his knees and clutched his stomach.

"**Riku**!"

But he couldn't throw up on the carpet, it was new. His mother would kill him.

Suddenly there was relief. He could feel Riku's hands massaging his back, relieving him of the feeling of wanting to puke. Sora was bustling around -- what was he doing? -- quietly; it sounded like he was moving something. Leon frowned. As long as he didn't break anything.

"Up, Leon. Make a jump for the couch," Riku hefted him up, swinging him around so that he could fit -- comfortably -- on the couch. From above him a thick cover dropped from Sora's hands, covering him. It felt nice, the soft pressure.

"You haven't been eating."

It was a statement, nothing more. Though Riku did say it with a bit of anger in his voice. Not a word from Leon. He hadn't eaten since he came back from Conan's. He hadn't gotten any of the answers he went there for, thanks to Cloud's outburst. Strangely enough though, he rather thought Riku had gotten some answers. To what questions, he didn't know.

But Riku was up to something.

It was the only explainable answer. Why on earth would he bring Sora here, to his house, if he weren't up to something? Even though Leon was on his side, Cloud could have been here. Cloud could have decided to take Sora out the moment he stepped through the door. There were too many risks involved with Leon's house; Riku risking a visit here must have meant that his plan, whatever it was, was big.

That, or it was going to get ugly and Riku needed to know who was on his side. Either way, both routes bode ill for Leon. For all of them. His fine brows furrowed together as he slipped into deep concentration. Just what was Riku up to?

As if on cue, Riku revealed a bit of his plan. "I know why Sora's being targeted."

Leon's first reaction was to shout. But his stomach was still hurting, so that was ruled out. Second was to slap Riku. How could he have said this in front of Sora? And the third reaction: dawning comprehension. Simply put, Sora **knew**. Leon wondered how he figured it out, and voiced the question.

"He figured it out himself," Riku replied quickly. "I swear. He came to my house and confronted me about it."

"That true?" Leon muttered. Sora nodded. A sigh. "Well then -- why?"

A sad smile from Riku. "I'm not going to tell you."

Exactly as Leon expected. Contrary to belief, Riku was a brilliant strategist. He would keep Leon on his toes, always dangling the information just out of reach. Taunting, teasing. He was going to make Leon work for the information. Leon smirked, pissed but accepting; he wouldn't have it any other way.

"What do you want?"

"Leon, dahling, I thought you'd never ask," Riku batted his eyelashes playfully before resuming his serious pose. "I want Sora to be somewhere safe. He can't stay at his house -- he's all alone there. And he can't stay with us. Too obvious."

Clearing his throat for attention, Sora threw in his two cents. "What about Cloud's? His mother is always happy to see me there."

The two gave Sora such a look that the brunette was **sure** he had lobsters crawling out of his ears, or something equally gross. (2) Finally qualing under the intense gaze, he focused his eyes on the ground and twiddled his thumbs.

"Bad idea?" he questions weakly. "But how bad can it --?"

"Very," Leon cut in smoothly. "Sora, Cloud is the only one left who still insists on killing you."

Sora swallowed, paled.

"We don't know what he has against you --" Leon continued on despite Riku's cough of disagreement. "But we do know he will not allow you to be sheltered in his own home."

"But if Namine and Roxas are there --"

"How long do you think it would take before he slipped poison into your drink?" Riku asked gently. "There are many ways to make death look accidental."

Slumping his shoulders in a defeated sort of way, Sora decided that he would leave the negotiating to the pros. As much as he was trying to help, it was obvious that he was **not** meant for this. This was their game, and he was just a player. Riku suggested that he look around the house. Leon had no objection, so Sora went off to do just that.

First stop: the kitchen. Because, really, he was starving. He had been too nervous to eat much breakfast at Cloud's, having been to worried about throwing it up all over Riku's doorstep. He would just make himself a sandwhich and be gone. Reaching out to grasp the metal handle of the refrigerator, Sora wondered what kind of meat Leon had. Yank.

_'Holy ---!'_

Leon, as it turned out, had every bit of food Sora could only dream about. Shutting the blessed door, Sora turned and walked stiffly back to the living room.

"Leon, do you mind if I get something to eat?"

"Help yourself."

Pause.

"D-do you want anything?"

"Depends. How well do you cook?" When Sora replied that he was decent -- "I'm still alive, aren't I?" -- Leon gave him permission to eat anything he had, so long as he made something for himself and Riku to eat as well. Well, that didn't bother Sora. In fact, it gave him something time-consuming to do. It felt good to not have to worry about the troubles of the world, and only about making sure the chocolate didn't burn on the oven.

An hour later, with Riku and Leon still arguing about where to send him, Sora reappeared in the living room. His arms were loaded with dishes of different types of foods (only later did he think that balancing so many trays was rude and irresponsible, considering they weren't his dishes). He made a small squeaky noise to alert the two to his presence, royally peeved when they simply sat and stared at him.

If they didn't hurry up and help him he was going to --

" -- drop the plates!" he squeaked, desperate. "Dropping! Dropping!"

Riku chuckled, watching Leon scramble over the couch in an attempt to save his precious dishes. He could be truly adorable when he wanted to be. When he wasn't busy losing himself in his emo-ness. Riku frowned, brows coming together. He didn't like emo-ness. That was Cloud's thing. Leon wasn't allowed to be emo, not when he was around.

"Riku, come and eat something!"

And, really, he shouldn't allow Cloud to be emo either...

"Riku!"

Because Cloud was always so much more fun when he wasn't being an emotional...

"**RIKU!**"

Out of nowhere a carrot stick smacked him squarely between the eyes, followed by two pieces of cellery and an olive. It seemed someone was trying to catch his attention. He spun around to see Leon and Sora with their hands full of other sorts of vegetables ready to be ejected from their hands at the slightest moment.

"Woah! You got my attention. Put those down."

Grinning, the two raised their hands above their heads, letting go of the vegetables in the process. "Ah!" Riku shielded himself as he felt the cold vegetables raining down upon him.

"Next time perhaps you'll pay attention," Leon smirked, brushing off a cellery stick from Riku's shoulder. "And we won't have to revert to such drastic measures."

"What he said," Sora smiled. "Now come eat!"

Slipping a hand through his locks, Riku set himself down at the table.

He couldn't believe what was happening, really. Something that had seemed so impossible a while ago was coming true. Riku had been given a chance to prove himself. Leon was smiling, albeit a bit painfully, at Sora. Riku helped himself to three of Sora's delicious sandwhiches, some celery sticks -- though he was surprised there were any left, after all they'd thrown at him -- and some chocolate mousse.

For a moment, he thought he'd seen something flicker in the window. But he must have imagined it; nothing was there. He turned his eyes back to the table, smiling slighty. They were all -- to be cliche -- one big, happy family.

That was, until a voice rang out from the doorway.

"Squall Leonheart, what the **fuck **do you think you're doing?"

**

* * *

-cough- Hm, what's that? Is this another cliff-hanger? Well, well... xD Heh. I actually had a different way to end it, but when I realized that continuing on past this point would be stupid, I cut it off right there. Hope you guys enjoyed that. I'm enjoying the fact that I got two things updated today. Hallelujah! It's a miracle. Press that little button that says review and feed meh!**

**Love you guys! **

**(1) - In an earlier chapter, I said that Sora lost his father when he was four. Disregard that. That sentence was the result of an escaping plot bunny. I have now caught the bunny, and he lost his father in fourth grade. Thanks.**

**(2) - 'Lobsters crawling out of his ears.' A Christmas Story. How many of you guys have seen that? I love that movie. **


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